Montreal Canadiens’ Joel Edmundson leaves game early with lower-body injury

The Montreal Canadiens announced that Joel Edmundson won’t be returning to Thursday night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings due to a lower-body injury.

Edmundson left early in the first period after just three shifts in the game, and it was announced before the second period that he wouldn’t be returning for the rest of the game. It’s unclear as to what caused the injury, but it appears his knee made a false movement in his final shift before leaving. He left with just 2:21 of ice time, no points, and a -1 rating as he was on the ice for Detroit’s first goal of the game.

The Canadiens were playing the game with seven defensemen, so they were still able to run three pairs even in his absence. They also had Jonathan Kovacevic in the press box as a healthy scratch, so they still have options on the roster for his replacement.

Where it really hurts the Canadiens is on the trade market. Edmundson ranked 19th on Frank Seravalli’s Trade Targets list, and was the highest of the Canadiens, so if it’s an injury of long-term significance, it could be a huge blow to their trade deadline plans. Considering the return they got for Ben Chiarot last season, they probably hoped to try and get something in that range.

Edmundson currently has one goal, five assists, and six points in 38 games this season. While he isn’t known for his offense, his defense hasn’t been much better, with a 42.83% 5v5 shot attempt share and 41.12% 5v5 expected goals share. That’s bad even by Montreal’s standards, as they are respectively -3.2% and -1.54% relative to the team.

Edmundson was a second round pick by the St. Louis Blues in 2011 and spent four seasons with the team, as well as one season with the Carolina Hurricanes before his contract rights were traded to Montreal in the 2020 offseason. He was then signed to a four-year contract with a $3.5 million contract, which he is currently in the third year of.