Canadiens' Caufield to miss rest of season with shoulder injury

Jan 21 2023, 4:09 pm

Add Cole Caufield to the list.

The Montreal Canadiens announced Saturday that Caufield would miss the remainder of the season because of surgery to repair a right shoulder injury. An update of his recovery period will be issued after the medical procedures.

The 22-year-old paces Montreal with an NHL career-high 26 goals. He is also second on the team with 36 points in 46 games, one behind Nick Suzuki.

Caufield is a pending restricted free agent.

He was originally chosen with the No. 15 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, and has 84 points (53 goals, 31 assists) in 123 games with the Canadiens since entering the league in 2020-21.

His announcement follows a whole host of injury reveals earlier in the week.

Montreal announced Wednesday that rookie Juraj Slafkovsky, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, will miss three months because of a lower-body injury that does not require surgery.

The same day, the Canadiens announced forwards Joel Armia and Jonathan Drouin will be out until the All-Star break after sustaining an upper-body injury, and forward Jake Evans would be out an expected eight-to-10 weeks because of a lower-body injury that does not require surgery.

Montreal sits 15th in the 16-team Eastern Conference with a 19-24-3 record for 41 points.

Overall, the Canadiens and 26th in the NHL standings ahead of the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Aaron VickersAaron Vickers

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