The Montreal Canadiens are in the middle of a game against the Seattle Kraken tonight, but one of the players that is not playing was in the headlines.
Kale Clague was placed on injured reserve this evening. It really sums up the Canadiens season when a healthy scratch is placed on injured reserve in the middle of a game he isn’t playing.
Apparently the injury happened earlier today at the end of practice. Clague was reportedly hit in the face with a puck, which is what caused the injury.
There was no report on what the actual injury is, but it must be serious enough since he was placed on injured reserve. He will have to stay on injured reserve for at least seven days, which will basically bring us to the trade deadline which is on Monday, March 21st.
Clague has been in and out of the lineup since being picked up on waivers early this season. However, with the Habs likely to trade pending free agents like Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak and Chris Wideman, and Jeff Petry also in the rumour mill, there is likely going to be a lot more ice time available for a young player like Clague.
The 23 year old left shooting defender is a smooth skater who has put up two points in 23 games so far this season with the Canadiens. He has shown some promise in the offensive side of the game, but struggles defensively.
Clague now joins Jonathan Drouin, Christian Dvorak, Tyler Pitlick, David Savard, Jake Allen, Carey Price and Andrew Hammond on the injured reserve.
There is no timeline for Clague’s return, but it does sound like Drouin and Dvorak will be back soon and Joel Edmundson finally played his first game of the season tonight. I guess that is progress.
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