After a few days worth of speculation, and reports that Juraj Slafkovsky was skating by himself this morning ahead of tonight’s game, the Montreal Canadiens have confirmed that he’ll miss a week of action before being re-evaluated. The exact cause of the injury is unknown, but it is of the upper-body variety.
He has been spotted at practice recently favouring his shoulder, so while the team won’t confirm what exactly the injury is, it seems that would be the likely affected area. Reports have suggested that he suffered the injury some time during the shootout loss to the New York Islanders, though few seem to be able to pinpoint when during that game it had happened. He did finish the game, and even participated in the shootout, so it wasn’t something that immediately took him out of action, and may have been slower to progress.
In the interim, it appears that Kirby Dach will be promoted to the top line, as he was practicing with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. This likely moves Alex Newhook to the centre position on the second line, and should elevate someone from the bottom six as well. Depending on whether the injury lasts longer than the currently expected week, this may cause further shifts in the lineup down the road.
