Canadiens confirm the worst for Tyler Toffoli.

The Montreal Canadiens can't catch a break.

It was announced earlier in the week that veteran forward Tyler Toffoli would be out for a few weeks as a result of an injury he suffered to his hand. That news got considerably worse today when Jonathan Bernier of the Journal de Montreal reported that the Habs forward would now be out for a period of months, due to a surgical procedure that he has reportedly undergone to repair the damage to that injured hand.

It is unclear exactly when Toffoli went under the knife for corrective surgery, however Bernier reports that it was at some point earlier this week.

It's a tough break for a Montreal Canadiens team that has been the worst in the Atlantic Division by far, especially when you consider the fact that this comes in the middle of a 5 game losing streak. The Habs are technically tied at the bottom of the Atlantic with both them and the Ottawa Senators having 15 points on the season, however the Senators missed a number of games due to being shut down over Covid concerns and currently have 4 games in hand over the Canadiens.

There was unfortunately even more bad news for the Canadiens on Saturday with Bernier reporting that forward Jake Evans would also be sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Evans is reportedly day to day so this is a much less severe case than the absence of Toffoli, but it is just one more compounding problem on a season that has produced a mountain of them for the Canadiens.

This has left the Canadiens severely depleted, especially when you add the season long absences of players like Carey Price, Shea Weber, and Joel Edmundson, and it will show on the ice against the St. Louis Blues this evening. Here is what the Canadiens are projected to look like this evening.

Hoffman-Suzuki-Lehkonen
Drouin-Poehling-Armia
Pezzetta-Perreault-Caufield
Paquette-Dauphin-Ylönen

Chiarot-Savard
Romanov-Wideman
Kulak-Clague

If you're looking for a silver lining, as a result of the host of injuries the Canadiens are suffering some of their prospects are now getting more ice time at the NHL level than they would have under normal circumstances. This will provide newly appointed executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton a chance to evaluate what he has in the Canadiens system before no doubt making significant changes both later in the season and in the upcoming off season.