Montreal Canadiens’ Mike Matheson out indefinitely with lower-body injury

The Montreal Canadiens announced that defenseman Mike Matheson will be out indefinitely with a lower-body injury.

Matheson will stay in Montreal for a medical follow-up, which means he will likely be out of the lineup for the duration of Montreal’s seven game road trip.

While there have been no specifics as to what caused the injury for Matheson, it likely either happened during Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, or is the return of a nagging injury that caused him to miss time earlier in the season. He had missed the last four games with an injury as well.

In fact, Matheson has missed a lot of games this season, being limited to just 10 games where he’s scored one goal with five assists. He was expected to play a big role for the Canadiens this season and play big minutes, but he just hasn’t been able to consistently stay in the lineup for that to happen.

Part of those big expectations came from the trade he was a part of, as they got Matheson and a fourth round pick in exchange for Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling in the 2022 offseason. He’s currently in the fifth year of an eight year contract with a $4.875 million cap hit, one that neither the Habs or Pens signed, but the Panthers, the team that drafted him in the first round in 2012.

It’s one of the many injuries that the Habs have to deal with at the moment. On top of the most likely career-ending injury that goaltender Cary Price is dealing with, Paul Byron is also on long-term injured reserve, with Brendan Gallagher, Sean Monahan, and David Savard all finding themselves on injured reserve.

The team has performed admirably despite all the injuries, as they find themselves with a 14-15-2 record and only seven points out of a playoff spot in a season many expected the team to be much closer to lottery contention.