Montreal Canadiens' defensive depth decimated early
Some news from the Habs this morning tells us that the Habs' D has become quite the open season.
The Montreal Canadiens released a series of tweets this morning announcing some injuries, and it seems that the Habs' defensive depth has been torn up something fierce.
Francis Bouillon will not be practicing today - day-to-day with a lower body injury.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 19, 2013
Douglas Murray will not be practicing today - day-to-day with a lower body injury.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 19, 2013
Rapport médical - D. Drewiske: blessure à une épaule - absent 4 semaines. / Medical update - D. Drewiske: shoulder injury - out 4 weeks.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 19, 2013
Due to the trio of injuries and the remaining preseason games, the Habs had to make a call up, and they chose...
Les Canadiens ont rappelé le défenseur Darren Dietz des @BulldogsAHL. / Canadiens recalled defenceman Darren Dietz from Hamilton.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 19, 2013
Neither Douglas Murray or Francis Bouillon's injuries seem to be serious, but the door is now wide open for Jarred Tinordi and Greg Pateryn, who have been the two most impressive defense prospects according to multiple preseason reports.
Magnus Nygren may also get a shot if he can adjust to North American ice quickly, and there's also Nathan Beaulieu to consider, though he's injured as well, possibly worse than Murray and Bouillon are.
If you add in Alexei Emelin, the Canadiens are missing 4 of their 8 defensemen on one-way contracts right now, which is a bit of a rough start to the year.