The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have placed forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi on injured reserve. In a corresponding move, the club has called up Ryan Poehling from their AHL affiliate Laval Rocket.

The Canadiens have recalled forward Ryan Poehling from the AHL’s Laval Rocket. He will be at practice on Monday. Forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi has been placed on the injured reserve list (groin).#GoHabsGo https://t.co/Z3xPviIcKv

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 3, 2019

Canadiens Jesperi Kotkaniemi Placed on Injured Reserve

Kotkaniemi missed the last two games with a groin injury, which he seemed to sustain on October 30th in a 4-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes.

In 12 games this season, Kotkaniemi has scored two goals and added one assist.

Kotkaniemi was originally drafted by the Canadiens in the first round, third overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Tough Loss for the Habs, Golden Opportunity for Poehling

This is a tough break for the Canadiens as Kotkaniemi was playing quite well for the Habs so far this season. While it was not showing on the score sheet, Kotkaniemi was playing a solid 200-foot game. He was also part of the line which included Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia, which was one of the Canadiens’ most productive lines in the early going. The Canadiens will certainly hope they are not without their young stud centreman for long.

With Kotkaniemi out, Ryan Poehling gets the call for the Canadiens. Poehling played his first NHL game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the season finale last year, where he registered a hat-trick along with the shootout winner. However, a concussion in training camp held him out for all but two pre-season games. Poehling was sent to Laval to get back up to game speed as well as get some valuable development time under Joel Bouchard.

In 13 games in the AHL this season, Poehling has scored three goals and two assists while centring the clubs top line.

It’s possible we see Poehling get his first bit of action this season against the Habs division rival Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

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