Montreal Canadiens prospect Joel Teasdale has hard a very difficult time with injuries in his young professional career.
Teasdale was never drafted, but following a point per game season in 2018-19 with the Blainville Boisbriand Armada of the QMJHL, he signed an entry-level contract with the Canadiens after a strong rookie camp.
He was traded to the Rouyn Noranda Huskies the following season and scored 43 goals and 80 points in 66 games before adding 34 points in 20 postseason games.
Teasdale was set to make his pro debut in the 2019-20 season but knee surgery sidelined him in training camp and he missed the entire year. He made his pro debut last season and looked great for the Laval Rocket, bringing a physical presence to the lineup and scored eight goals and 18 points in 26 games.
The 22 year old left winger looked poised to take on a top line role for the team this season, but once again an offseason injury would take him out of the lineup for a long time.
Teasdale is yet to play a game this season but that appears about to change. He was moved from the Canadiens Season Opening Injured Reserve on Friday and sent to the Laval Rocket.
The Laval Rocket tweeted out earlier today that Teasdale was officially cleared to return to play. His head coach, J.F. Houle stated this weekend that he was about 95% sure that Teasdale would be in the lineup when the Rocket play their next game. This bit of news seems to ensure that is even closer to 100%.
The Rocket next play on Friday night in Texas against the Stars. With all of the injuries and Covid cases the organization has dealt with in recent weeks, any healthy player would be appreciated.
But Teasdale isn’t just any player as he showed he was one of the best offensive players on the Rocket team last season. It will be exciting to see what he can do this season after a delayed start to his season.