Montreal Canadiens Lose Zach Redmond To Injury

The Montreal Canadiens Lost Zach Redmond to injury when he broke a bone in his foot at practice. The injury, and Sergachev’s potential return to Junior leave an open roster spot on the Habs blue line.

The Montreal Canadiens will be without depth defenseman Zach Redmond for the foreseeable future. The right-shot defenseman is going to miss the next six weeks with a broken bone in his foot.

Redmond was signed by the Canadiens to a two-year contract in July. He earns a cap hit of $612,500 each season. Redmond played the past two seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, scoring six points in 37 games last season.

Since turning pro four seasons ago, Redmond has proven to be a great American Hockey League player, but has not been able to make it as a full-time National Hockey league defender.

The 28 year old had a great training camp in Montreal. He beat out Mark Barberio for the last roster spot on the Habs blue line. Barberio played well in 30 games in Montreal last year, but Redmond’s strong camp prompted the Habs management to put Barberio on waivers before the season began.

With eight defenseman currently on the roster, Redmond doesn’t have a large role with the organization. However, the Habs have a tough decision to make with 18 year old defender Mikhail Sergachev in the near future.

If Sergachev plays more than nine games in the NHL this season, he burns a year off his entry-level contract. He played in his third tonight, so if the Canadiens return him to Junior, Redmond would become more relied upon by the team.

It’s a tough break (no pun intended) for the Habs defenseman. After four seasons with the Winnipeg Jets and Avalanche rosters, his days bouncing back and forth between the minors and NHL appeared behind him.

If the Habs still decide to send Sergachev back to the minors, I’d expect Barberio to be re-called as the seventh defender in Redmond’s place until he returns in December.