Laine missed the last six games with an elbow injury he suffered on opening night. Laine scored a goal on two shots in 7:49 TOI in his season debut, and he'll be back on a line with Johnny Gaudreau and Boone Jenner vs. the Coyotes.
Slafkovsky missed the Canadien's last game due to an upper-body injury and after being left out of Monday's practice will not be playing on Tuesday. The 2022 1st overall pick has one goal and four shots through five games so far to start his NHL career.
Laine was expected to be out for 3-to-4 weeks with an elbow injury, but head coach Brad Larsen said that Laine is improving. Laine was able to return to the ice on Monday and Larsen said he'll miss at least the next couple of games.
Primeau will serve as Sam Montembeault's backup on Monday with Jake Allen (parental leave) unavailable. Primeau allowed six goals and 38 shots in his season debut with Laval.
Montembeault will get his second start in as many games after Montreal announced Jake Allen would not be available for Monday's game due to parental leave. The 25-year-old netminder struggled in his only start of the season, losing 3-1 to Washington while stopping 26 of 29 shots with little offensive help. He will look to get his first win of the season Monday against Pittsburgh.
Laine scored just minutes into Columbus' season opener Wednesday but could only complete 7:49 TOI. Before leaving, the star winger collected two shots, a hit and a blocked shot, while adding the earlier-mentioned goal. His month-long absence will come as a massive blow to Columbus who just added Johnny Gaudreau during the offseason.
Matheson underwent an MRI on Wednesday and missed the Canadiens' season opener with a lower-body injury. The MRI must not have revealed positive news, as he hits IR to open up a roster spot for Corey Schueneman to be called up.
Columbus' star left winger will not return after a collision with Brett Pesce of the Carolina Hurricanes. Laine had started the night off hot with the first goal of the contest and two shots before exiting in the second period.
33-year-old veteran Left Winger Paul Byron will be placed on the LTI due to a hip injury steaming from last season. Byron has struggled to stay healthy the last few years playing only 102 games in the last three NHL seasons. He collected seven points in 27 games in 2021-22 as he found himself out of the lineup more often than in. By placing the 12-year veteran on the LTI, the Canadiens free up $900,000 in cap space.
The Canadiens announced on Sunday that Armia will miss one-to-two weeks, so moving him to IR means he'll for sure miss seven days. Juraj Slafkovsky will open the season with the Canadiens, which could change once Armia is back and in need of a roster spot.
Matheson's rehab from a lower-body injury he suffered in the preseason continues. At this point, it seems unlikely that Matheson will be available for the Canadiens' season opener on Wednesday.
Missing one to two weeks would mean that Armia would miss at least three games. The injury opens the door for No.1 overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky to start the season with the Canadiens.
Dvorak was not on the ice for Friday's practice and is considered day-to-day. Until the Canadiens provide more details, consider Dvorak questionable for their season opener vs. the Maple Leafs next Wednesday.
Suzuki has been battling a lower-body injury throughout training camp but returned to the ice on Friday. Suzuki told reporters that he would have played through the injury during the regular season but that they're being careful because it's training camp. This is positive news that Suzuki should be ready to go for the Canadiens' season opener.
Suzuki suffered the injury during offseason training and is expected to be sidelined for a couple of weeks. It seems possible that the newly minted Canadiens' captain could be ready for the start of the season, which is just over two weeks away for Montreal.
Canadiens GM Kent Hughes released a statement on Thursday confirming that Price could potentially miss the entire 2022-23 campaign. Hughes said the "the news in terms of Carey's knee is pretty discouraging in the sense that there hasn't been any improvement through the rehab process all last season." Price, who will be added to LTIR, is expected to have an update on his future in the next month.
