Jonathan Drouin has been placed on injured reserve.

Bad news for the Habs.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Jonathan Drouin has been placed on injured reserve.
David Kirouac/CSM/Zuma

The fans in Montreal who feared that Montreal Canadiens star forward Jonathan Drouin had suffered some form of significant injury following a huge hit from Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin on Friday night have just had their worst fears confirmed.

According to an official announcement from the Canadiens organization the team has now placed Drouin on injured reserve effective immediately as a result of what they are currently describing as a "upper body injury." Although this would purely be speculation at this time, Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien did confirm last night that Drouin had been placed in the NHL's concussion protocol following the hit from Ovechkin and that may very well be the injury that Drouin is dealing with at this time. Additionally the fact that Drouin has been placed on injured reserve now means that he will miss at least one week of action, although there is of course the possibility that he will be out even longer than that. 

Drouin was injured on Friday night when he was absolutely leveled by Ovechkin with a huge hit that Drouin seemingly never saw coming. Although the check was shoulder to shoulder it did appear as though Ovechkin's skates came off of the ice a little early, and that has had some Habs fans up in arms over the fact that Ovechkin was not disciplined as a result of the play. It was revealed earlier today that the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety has opted not to issue any additional discipline to Ovechkin as a result of the play, and that news will surely not sit well with the Canadiens given the announcement that they have just had to make. 


Drouin was off to a strong start this season, appearing in 19 games for the Canadiens prior to his injury and recording 7 goals and 8 assists for a total of 15 points and a plus minus rating of +4 thus far. The Habs have announced that he will be replaced by NHL veteran Charles Hudon who has been called up from the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League in a corresponding move to Drouin being placed on injured reserve. Hudon had not yet appeared for the Habs this season but in 17 games in the AHL has recorded 9 goals and 2 assists for a total of 11 points with the Rocket.

Update: Habs insider Eric Engels is reporting that the Canadiens are saying that the injury to Drouin was not as a result of the hit from Ovechkin.



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