The Canadiens got a mixed bag of injury news, and while there’s some relief on one front, the absences are still piling up.
Defenseman Mike Matheson will be out for the next two weeks with a lower-body injury, TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reported. It’s the second lower-body issue he’s dealt with this month, although this latest problem is believed to be separate from the first rather than a setback.
That’s a significant blow for Montreal’s blue line. Matheson has been a workload machine since the Canadiens acquired him in 2022, leading the team in ice time every season since then.
He’s also been the NHL’s leader in shorthanded ice time per game to start this season. Through eight games, he has four points and has been logging just under 24 minutes a night.
With him sidelined, Adam Engstrom is in line for more ice time unless Montreal brings someone up from AHL Laval in the next few days.
There was also an update on goaltender Sam Montembeault, who has been moved to day-to-day status. He was originally expected to miss 10-14 days after suffering a lower-body injury in practice, but that window passed last week without an update. Montembeault has not played yet this season, even though he won the backup job in training camp last month.
Jacob Fowler was recalled when Montembeault went down, and his play has been strong enough that it now looks unlikely he’ll be sent back to Laval once Montembeault is ready. A three-goalie setup appears to be the likeliest outcome when Montembeault returns.
Captain Nick Suzuki is also trending in the right direction. Lavoie reported that Suzuki was a full participant in Montreal’s morning skate today as he continues to recover from a hand injury, and Sportsnet’s Eric Engels noted that he won’t play tonight.
Even so, Suzuki seems to be well ahead of the original two-to-four-week recovery timetable. The Canadiens have won all four games without him, and he remains tied for the team lead in scoring with 12 points in nine games.
In Other News...
Canadiens Face A Costly Ryan O'Reilly Deadline Dilemma
With Nick Suzuki out, the Canadiens are again staring at a familiar deadline question: how aggressively should they chase help down the middle? Pierre Dorion has pointed to Ryan OReilly as a fit for Montreal, and the appeal is obvious. He is a proven center, he is in the final year of his contract, and he would bring a level of experience the roster could use right now.
The harder part is figuring out what such a move would cost, because Montreal would not be shopping for a bargain. Any deal for OReilly would almost certainly require real assets, the kind of prospects and draft capital that can thin out a pipeline in a hurry. For a Canadiens front office trying to balance urgency with long-term value, the price tag may end up being the biggest obstacle of all. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Suddenly Loom In Two Massive NHL Trade Storylines
A fresh NHL trade market has already started to take shape after Seattle and Nashville swapped Shane Wright and Matthew Wood, a one-for-one move that sent two young players searching for a clean slate. For Montreal, the bigger significance may be what it signals around the league: the Canadiens are suddenly in the conversation on more than one front, with their name surfacing as a possible destination in cases where established players start looking for a change of scenery.
Dylan Larkin is currently sitting out while his situation unfolds, and Montreal could become part of the picture if he revises his trade preferences. Nikita Kucherov has also reportedly made clear he wants out of Tampa Bay, and if the Lightning ever decide to entertain offers, Montreal is among the teams being mentioned as a possible landing spot. For a Canadiens club still trying to position itself for the next step, simply being in those conversations matters, even if the real decisions are still to come. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Still Face One Big Question In Kent Hughes Trade Push
The Canadiens search for a top-six center has kept Kent Hughes active on the trade front, and the names floating around show just how ambitious Montreal is trying to be. David Pagnotta reported that the club has explored possibilities involving Kirill Marchenko, Matthew Knies and Robert Thomas as Hughes continues to look for a major addition that could change the look of the lineup down the middle.
Even with that kind of due diligence, the path to a deal has not gotten any easier. Montreal still has to navigate a market where some targets may not want to come, while Hughes also has limits on what he is willing to move out of the organization, which has slowed any blockbuster from materializing. For now, the Canadiens are still hunting for center help, but the biggest question is whether they can land it without paying a price they are not prepared to meet. [Read more 🡒]