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.
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.
Kahkonen will get the second of the back-to-back starts for the Global Series in Prague. The 26-year-old will get his first nod between the crease this season after posting a .916 SV% and 2.86 GAA across 16 games after getting dealt to the Sharks' at the trade deadline in 2021-22.
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.
Matheson is coming off of a career-year, posting career-bests in goals (11), assists (20) and points (31) in 74 games with the Penguins. Matheson averaged 18:44 TOI/gm in two years with the Penguins butu could take on a larger role in Montreal, where there is not many experienced NHL defensemen.
The Canadiens selected Mesar with the No.26 overall pick in this summer's NHL Draft. The 18-year-old winger had eight goals and eight assists (16 points) in 37 games with Poprad HK SKP of the Slovak Extraliga.
Teasdale spent the entire 2021-22 season with Laval (AHL) where he tallied 15 goals and 13 assists (28 points) in 44 games. The 23-year-old undrafted free agent will likely start 2022-23 in the AHL after inking a two-way deal.
Belzile spent most of the 2021-22 season with Laval (AHL), where he scored 10 goals with 12 assists (22 points) in 32 games. He was held pointless in 11 NHL games with the Canadiens. The two-way contract suggests that he'll start 2022-23 in the AHL.
