The Montreal Canadiens’ upcoming season is set to kick off in a few weeks, but they’ll have to start without one of their key centres.
General Manager Kent Hughes confirmed on Wednesday that Christian Dvorak will be sidelined for the first month of the season as he continues his rehabilitation from a knee injury.
Le directeur général Kent Hughes a annoncé que l'attaquant Christian Dvorak ne sera pas disponible pour un retour au jeu avant le mois de novembre.
General manager Kent Hughes announced that forward Christian Dvorak will not be available to return to play until the month of…
— Canadiens MontrĂ©al (@CanadiensMTL) September 20, 2023
Dvorak, 27, underwent season-ending knee surgery on March 15, 2023, after getting hurt in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes the week prior. Last season, he played 64 games, netting 10 goals and 28 points.
As of now, his expected return to play is sometime in November, but general manger Kent Hughes is hesitant to rush him back prematurely.
“I think we learned last year, sometimes we have a timeline and that timeline doesn’t always hit. What we might think is six weeks could be eight weeks,” he explained.
“We’re going to do whatever is necessary in terms of giving D-Vo (Dvorak) the time to heal properly and return on a permanent basis and not a partial basis,” the Canadiens GM added.
Hughes also briefly addressed the addition of forward Tanner Pearson, who was acquired in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for goalie Casey DeSmith on Tuesday evening.
As a fellow bottom-six forward, the 31-year-old can certainly take on Dvorak’s minutes. But like Dvorak, Pearson has also been dealing with an injury, and may not be ready in time to start the year.
“He already passed his physical exam in Vancouver,” the GM said in French. “Is he at 100%? No, but we’re waiting until he’s available to play. He will participate at camp.”
Hughes also mentioned Pearson’s playoff experience and veteran status as reasons he was interested in acquiring the Kitchener, Ontario, native.
“Tanner is an established hockey player. He already has two Stanley Cups,” he said. “It takes a little bit of grey hair to pass on experience to our young players.”