The first season with the Montreal Canadiens for Chris Kreider has not gone well and has gotten worse with the recent news that he will be out six to eight weeks, according to the team. Kreider suffered the injury against the Boston Bruins in the third period when Michael Eyssimont slid low on Kreider chasing a puck at center ice, and his knee appeared to buckle.
Kreider joined the Canadiens right before the season when he was waived by the Anaheim Ducks and, as a free agent, signed a one-year deal. The veteran forward has appeared in 19 games this season with only three goals and six assists.
He initially began the season on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, but the Canadiens shuffled the lines after Ivan Demidov's injury. This injury would require them to move Juraj Slafkovsky up to the top line and replace Kreider. Since then, Kreider has primarily been on a line with Josh Anderson and initially Alex Newhook, but recently Jake Evans.
Florian Xhekaj with a big opportunity ahead of him in replacing Chris Kreider
With Chris Kreider out, the Montreal Canadiens are expected to have Florian Xhekaj return to the lineup. As Eric Engels notes, the Canadiens may even have Xhekaj replace him on the line with Evans and Anderson, which makes a lot of sense for Montreal.
This means the Canadiens can keep the fourth line of Oliver Kapanen, Kirby Dach, and Alex Newhook together as these three have been excellent as of late with four goals scored and zero allowed on the season.
Meanwhile, this gives Xhekaj a chance to play on the same line as Josh Anderson, who has been somewhat of a mentor to Florian Xhekaj. During training camp, Xhekaj even jokingly said that a line of him, Anderson, and his brother Arber Xhekaj would be like a "demolition line."
This is a big opportunity for Florian Xhekaj, as he now has a chance to see consistent ice time and be a regular in the lineup. After playing in five games last season, Xhekaj has appeared in seven games this season but has averaged only 7:53 of ice time per game and has three points already.
To this point in the season, Kreider has averaged over 13 minutes per game, and if Xhekaj does replace Kreider in the lineup, it could mean double the amount of ice time.
The Canadiens will be taking the ice at the Bell Centre for a 7 PM puck drop against the Colorado Avalanche.
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