The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have placed forward Jonathan Drouin on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. In a corresponding move, the club has recalled Charles Hudon from their AHL affiliate Laval Rocket.
Jonathan Drouin Placed on IR by Canadiens
Drouin sustained the injury in Friday night’s 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals. Drouin took a massive hit in the second period from Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin. He left the game and missed the rest of the second period. However, he returned in the third and played the remainder of the game.
In 19 games so far this season, Drouin has scored seven goals and eight assists for 15 points.
He was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, third overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
Huge Loss for the Canadiens
Losing Drouin for any amount of time would be an enormous loss for the Canadiens. Drouin has looked like a new player for the Canadiens this season. He has been more engaged in the play this season and has been playing a more complete game than we have seen from him in years prior. His play this season sparked a standing ovation from the Bell Centre crowd on October 13th after a 6-3 win against the defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. The Canadiens will certainly hope for the best-case scenario when it comes to Drouin’s injury.
In his place, the Canadiens recalled forward Charles Hudon from Laval. Hudon will get another chance with the big club after being sent down before the start of the season. Hudon has been playing extremely well for Laval as he has scored nine goals and two assists in 17 games with the club.
Hudon has played 110 games for the Canadiens registering 13 goals and 26 assists for 39 points. However, he has fallen out of favour with Canadiens having a ton of depth up front. Hudon will use this call-up as a chance to prove he is worthy of a spot on the NHL roster. Hudon will be available for tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils. It will be interesting to see if he does, in fact, draw into the lineup.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
