Montreal Canadiens’ Juraj Slafkovksy to miss three months with lower-body injury

Montreal Canadiens General Manager Kent Hughes announced Wednesday that 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky will miss three months with a lower-body injury.

The Canadiens rookie was placed on injured reserve (IR) just a couple of days ago. The injury goes back to Sunday’s 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers, he logged 9:04 of ice time and left mid-way through the third period. The good news is that he will not have to undergo surgery. Slafkovksy has registered 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 39 games this season throughout his rookie campaign. He was held pointless in his last 15 games.

Slafkovksy was selected first overall at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal. The 6-foot-4 Slovakian power-forward collected seven goals at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and was named the Most Valuable Player. He also won the Slovakian Player of the Year Award.

However, Slafkovsky will have plenty of company as the Canadiens have issued more updates regarding injuries. Forward Jake Evans will miss eight-to-ten weeks with a lower-body injury, he has collected 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 43 games. He had four points in his last five contests. Forwards Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia will be out until the All-Star break after each sustained upper-body injuries. Finally, goaltender Jake Allen will miss a minimum of one week with an upper-body injury.

Head Coach Martin St. Louis told the media “That’s the league. You control the things that you can, and we’re going to manage this.” The Canadiens have called up forwards Rem Pitlick and Rafael Harvey-Pinard from their Meirnca Hockey League Affilate (AHL) Laval Rocket.

“So, I feel like those guys have an opportunity here to come in and have an impact and maybe they can steal a chair, so to speak,” St. Louis said. “But you never get to steal a chair if you don’t have the opportunity, and sometimes the opportunity gets created just by misfortune from somebody else.”

The Canadiens currently sit 26th out of 32 teams in the league-wide standings with a record of 19-23-3. According to the Connor Bedard watch, they have a 6.5% chance of winning the first overall pick at the NHL Draft Lottery.