We may only be a handful of games into the season, but the Montreal Canadiens appear to be getting bitten by the injury bug once again.
Defenceman Mike Matheson sustained an upper-body injury early in Thursday’s loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Logging a little over seven minutes of ice time, the 30-year-old’s early exit forced the Habs to play the remainder of the game with five defencemen.
While the team has yet to provide a detailed update on their top blueliner’s recovery timeline, Montreal announced a roster move on Friday morning as they called up defenceman Logan Mailloux from Laval.
Les Canadiens ont rappelé le défenseur Logan Mailloux du Rocket de Laval.
The Canadiens have recalled defenseman Logan Mailloux from the Laval Rocket.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/HRlmrzsZI9
— Canadiens MontrĂ©al (@CanadiensMTL) October 18, 2024
The Habs later dropped a bit of unexpected news, announcing that Matheson would be undergoing a “therapy day” while also revealing that fellow top defender Kaiden Guhle had sustained an injury of his own.
The 22-year-old is set to be evaluated daily.
Les défenseurs Kaiden Guhle (blessure au haut du corps, sera évalué sur une base quotidienne) et Mike Matheson (journée de traitements) ne participeront pas à l'entraînement d'aujourd'hui.
Defensemen Kaiden Guhle (upper-body injury, will be evaluated on a daily basis) and Mike…
— Canadiens MontrĂ©al (@CanadiensMTL) October 18, 2024
As one of the top blueliners in the AHL last season, Mailloux, 21, earned his first NHL opportunity ahead of the Canadiens’ 82nd game last April. The London, Ontario, native, drafted 31st overall by the Canadiens in 2021, logged 21:14 of ice time and one assist.
Entering the final year of his entry-level deal, Mailloux has gotten off to an equally promising start with the Rocket this fall with two goals and four points through the first two games of the 2024-25 campaign.
Riding a 2-3-0 record, the Habs will take on the New York Islanders on the road this Saturday at 7 pm ET.