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Canadiens shutting Shea Weber down indefinitely

New York Rangers v Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 28: Shea Weber #6 of the Montreal Canadiens looks on against the New York Rangers during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on October 28, 2017 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Rangers 5-4. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

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Just one game into a seven-game road trip, the Canadiens announced on Monday that Shea Weber has returned to Montreal and will be shut down for further evaluation. At this point there is no timetable for his return to the lineup, but it seems that he will be sidelined for at least the foreseeable future.

According to coach Claude Julien, Weber is dealing with a nagging foot injury that had previously kept him out of the lineup for six games last month.

Weber was able to return to the lineup on Dec. 2 but the injury has not completely healed.

“Shea has a nagging foot injury,” Julien said on Monday, via the Canadiens’ website. It had improved to the point that he was ready to return, but then it got worse and we had to send him back to Montreal. We’ll keep him off the ice until we figure out what’s going on.

“It’s a long season, and it’s the type of injury that he couldn’t continue playing with. We’ll manage it properly over the next couple of days and weeks.”

In 26 games this season Weber has six goals and 16 assists for the Canadiens.

The Canadiens are desperate for points and are now going to be without their top defenseman. Entering play on Monday the Canadiens are three points back of the Boston Bruins for the third spot in the Atlantic Division, but have played three additional games. They also find themselves seven points back of the New York Islanders for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

It also has to be a concern for the Canadiens to have a 32-year-old defenseman that is still signed for eight more years at nearly $8 million per season that has this sort of nagging injury that keeps sidelining him.

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.