Montreal Canadiens’ Joel Edmundson out day-to-day with injury

The Montreal Canadiens have announced that defenseman Joel Edmundson will be out day-to-day after suffering an upper-body injury against Detroit last night.

The team originally said Edmundson wouldn’t return with a lower-body injury, but a tweet on Friday morning changed it to a UBI instead.

Edmundson left early in the first period after just three shifts in the game, with the veteran being on the ice during Detroit’s first goal of the contest. Montreal had six other defensemen in the lineup, but it wasn’t enough in a 4-3 overtime loss. Including Carey Price, who isn’t expected to return this season with a knee injury, the Canadiens are up to 11 players with active injuries. That includes Jonathan Drouin and Sean Monahan, both of whom are believed to be trade targets ahead of the deadline. Edmundson is also one of the top Canadiens believed to be on the market, so it’s a good thing his injury is short-term.

The 6-foot-5 blueliner has served as as an elder statement for the Habs’ blueline. The 29-year-old has played in 140 regular season and playoff games for the Canadiens, making him the only blueliner to surpass the 100-game mark in bleu, blanc at rouge. The Canadiens elected to go with a rookie-laden defense core this season as the club looks to stay involved in the hunt for Connor Bedard.

With Edmundsson out, Jonathan Kovacevic was promoted back into the lineup and will likely hold third-pairing duty alongside Arber Xhekaj. The Canadiens currently sit last in the Atlantic Division with a 20-25-4 record, but are 5-4-1 over the past 10 games. As injuries continue to mount for the Habs, the odds of landing the first overall pick will continue to improve – but that could be amplified by a full fire sale at the trade deadline.