The Montreal Canadiens can’t blame injuries for their terrible start to the season, but it hasn’t helped having so many key players out of the lineup.
Joel Edmundson has not played a game yet and Mike Hoffman, Mathieu Perreault, Brett Kulak, Jake Allen and Cedric Paquette are all battling injuries at the moment as well.
Of course, none of the injuries has had a bigger impact than Carey Price missing the entire season so far dealing with a nagging knee injury as well as that stint with the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program that kept him away from the team for 30 days.
It is starting to sound like many of these players could be back in action relatively soon. The Habs were off yesterday, and today, but they could have a few players back in the lineup by tomorrow night’s contest with the Washington Capitals.
One of those coming back tomorrow night should be Jake Allen. He has been out for ten days with a concussion after a collision against the Detroit Red Wings on November 13th. Cayden Primeau was sent down to the Laval Rocket, which should pave the way for Allen to be on the roster against the Capitals.
Joel Edmundson has not played yet this season but he is going to travel with the team for the first time this week. He still isn’t likely to play right away but the team thinks he should be ready to go next week.
Cedric Paquette could be back as soon as Wednesday. He might have lost his spot in the lineup to Ryan Poehling who scored twice in the team’s last game. Still, a little more depth isn’t a bad thing.
Mathieu Perreault still doesn’t have his vision back to 100% but apparently he is inching closer to a return to action. He skated with Mike Hoffman yesterday who will be out at least another week but the pair are getting closer to returning to the lineup.
Of course, the biggest one is Carey Price and he is still working out in the gym, rehabbing his knee injury that was operated on last July. It will still be a few weeks before we see Price back in the Canadiens crease.