Emil Heineman to miss three to four weeks

After being involved in a traffic accident as a pedestrian on Monday in Utah, the Habs announced on Tuesday that winger Emil Heineman will miss the next three to four weeks with an upper-body injury.

The injury puts on hold what has been a very solid rookie season for the 23-year-old winger.  Heineman has locked down a steady spot on Montreal’s surprisingly effective fourth line and second power play unit, allowing to play every game but one thus far.  On the season, he has 10 goals and seven assists in 41 games, putting him third amongst all NHL rookies in goals and seventh in points.

With the Canadiens only carrying one extra forward at the moment, Michael Pezzetta should get the first crack at replacing Heineman (unless the team goes to seven defencemen instead).  Pezzetta saw extremely limited minutes when Patrik Laine was out but now that he’ll be in a role that best suited to him, it will be interesting to see if his minutes go up a bit.

In the meantime, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Habs bring another forward up from Laval to give them at least some injury insurance.  With the team being out West until the weekend, it’s possible that they’ll hold off a few days on a recall if they can, allowing them a bit of time to evaluate Pezzetta first.