Canadiens confirm bad news on star winger

Canadiens winger Alex Newhook left Thursday’s loss to Florida with a lower-body injury, and it will keep him out for a while.  The team announced that Newhook will miss the next 10 to 12 weeks with a high-ankle sprain.

The 22-year-old is in his first season with Montreal after being acquired from Colorado just before the draft in June for the 31st and 37th picks along with prospect blueliner Gianni Fairbrother.  Despite taking a step back with the Avalanche last season, the Canadiens saw fit to give Newhook a four-year contract over the summer, one that carries a $2.9M cap hit; he will still be a restricted free agent at its expiration.

Newhook has done well with his new team this season, taking advantage of the more prominent role he has in Montreal’s lineup.  He is tied for the team lead in goals with Cole Caufield with seven while being tied with Sean Monahan for fourth in points with 13.  He’s also averaging 16:34 per night after failing to log 14 minutes per contest in his two full seasons with Colorado.

The Canadiens already made their recall to replace Newhook on the roster Friday when they brought up Mitchell Stephens from AHL Laval.  For now, at least, Monahan is being shifted to the wing, allowing Stephens to center the fourth line.

Newhook joins a quickly growing list of players on Montreal’s injured reserve.  Carey Price’s playing days are over which has him on LTIR.  Up front, Rafael Harvey-Pinard will miss another month while Kirby Dach is done for the year.  Meanwhile, on the back end, Chris Wideman has yet to play this season, David Savard has missed more than a month, while Arber Xhekaj and Jordan Harris recently landed on IR themselves.  That said, TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie relays that both Savard and Xhekaj skated Saturday, which means those two could be getting closer to a return.