The hits just keep on coming for the Montreal Canadiens.
On Thursday morning the club announced that all-star defenseman Shea Weber is expected to miss anywhere between five and six months after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a meniscal tear in his right knee.
The injuries are starting to pile up for Weber. The 32-year-old was limited to just 26 games in 2017-18, as he was dealing with a foot injury he suffered in the first game of the regular season. Weber underwent surgery to repair the injury in March and he’s now undergone a second surgery to fix his knee.
“During the procedure, it was determined that the damage to his knee was more serious than previously anticipated and the situation required a more comprehensive procedure to repair a meniscal tear. It is important to mention that this procedure could not have been performed earlier due to his recovery to his previous foot surgery. As such, we expect a recovery period from this latest knee surgery to be five to six months, which will keep him out of action until mid-December 2018,” said the Club’s head physician, Dr. David Mulder.
If management wasn’t sure about whether or not they should rebuild in 2018-19, this should put an end to that debate right now. Weber missing the first three months of the season is a huge blow to a team that will have to scratch and claw for every point on a nightly basis.
MORE:
• Time for Canadiens to embrace a rebuild
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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.