Canadiens’ Dale Weise: On injured reserve

Weise has been ruled out for 2-3 weeks because of an upper-body injury suffered in Friday’s Winter Classic, and the move to injured reserve was made as a result.

The Montreal Canadiens have recalled RW Sven Andrighetto from the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps, as according to a club announcement on Saturday evening.

Andrighetto and Smith-Pelly offer coach Michel Therrien a choice of different skill sets. This is terribly unfortunate for Weise who had been following up last season’s career best season with an even better one this year. Smith is bigger and is capable of playing a more physical game.

“It’s tough to lose a guy like that, but it gives other guys a chance to step up”, Brian Flynn said.

The Montreal Canadiens got a huge lift on January 1st as forward Brendan Gallagher returned to help the Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 in the 2016 Winter Classic. He scored two goals and three points in 12 National Hockey League games last season, during his first taste of National Hockey League action.

However, it suggests if a skilled young winger with a great shot like Andrighetto is put in the same role, I would expect him to get as many scoring chances and score at least as frequently as Weise has this season. Also, though Andrighetto played well with Galchenyuk and Eller in the past, I would leave Daniel Carr there as he has been playing well in that role and finding the back of the net.

“It’s hard, we were working well so far”, Fleischmann said.

The Philadelphia game is the first of a back-to-back situation with the Canadiens returning to the Bell Centre Wednesday to play the New Jersey Devils. The Canadiens are home again to Pittsburgh on Saturday.