Montreal Canadiens' Top Defenseman Out

The Montreal Canadiens will be without Jeff Petry for Saturday night's contest against the Nashville Predators. The veteran defenseman did not travel with the team due to an upper-body injury. In response to this unfortunate news, the team has also called up Corey Schueneman from the Laval Rocket.

Jeff Petry n'accompagnera pas l'équipe à Nashville en raison d'une blessure au haut du corps. Corey Schueneman a été rappelé du Rocket de Laval.

Jeff Petry will not travel with the team to Nashville due to an upper-body injury. Corey Schueneman has been recalled from Laval. pic.twitter.com/9KQlqIo2eh

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 3, 2021

The Canadiens have not announced an expected recovery time, so it is rather possible that Petry could miss more of Montreal's upcoming games. 

Petry clearly has been dealing with something for a major part of this season and it shows in his play. He's been off to a very rough start this campaign, like the Canadiens as a whole. In 25 games, he has just two assists and a minus-4 rating. This is a dramatic drop in production from just last season. He scored 12 goals and recorded 42 points in 55 games during the 2020-21 campaign. With that, he had at least 40 points in four straight years.

However, even with Petry's struggles this season, his presence will be missed on the blueline. Here's to hoping the veteran can be 100% healthy soon and return to his previous form from there.

Photo Credit: © Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports