On Wednesday, Montreal announced that d-man Alexei Emelin underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, and would be sidelined for the next 4-6 weeks as a result.
Emelin, 31, was hurt near the end of the regular season with a suspected knee injury, and missed the final few games down the stretch. The ailment kept him out of the Habs’ first four playoff games against the Rangers, though Emelin did return for Games 5 and 6.
In the finale, the veteran Russian rearguard scored his first playoff goal, but only saw 16:11 TOI.
The knee injury and subsequent surgery marred what was an otherwise healthy campaign. Emelin appeared in a career-high 76 games, and averaged a career-high 21:19 TOI per night, leading the team in hits.
Next year is a big one for Emelin. He’s heading into the last of a four-year, $16.4 million deal with a $4.1M average annual cap hit.