Montreal Canadiens forward Tanner Pearson out 4-6 weeks with upper body injury

More injury troubles for one of the Montreal Canadiens top veterans.

On Wednesday, the Habs announced that they are placing Tanner Pearson on injured reserve, and is expected to be out for the next 4-6 weeks with an upper body injury.

The 31-year-old was injured in the first period of Montreal’s game against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night after taking a puck off the hand. He left the game and was ruled out during the first intermission.

The Canadiens said they were recalling Emil Heineman from their American Hockey League affiliate, Laval Rocket, to fill the roster spot.

Pearson’s right hand was the one that was hit in the in the Canadiens’ 3-2 win over the Sabres. It is worth noting, as Pearson missed most of last season after breaking a bone in his left hand in November while with the Vancouver Canucks. He was expected to return at some point, but a second surgery was needed to clean up a post-surgical infection, a process that drew ire of fans and teammates alike.

Pearson has had a bit of a down year after being traded to Montreal this past September. In 27 games, he has four goals and four assists, far off his half-point-a-game pace from two seasons ago. However, with another hand injury, one can only wonder how that will effect his production. Pearson, has not made it through a full season since scoring a career-high 21 goals in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Pearson is in the final year of a three-year contract that he signed with the Canucks, worth an AAV of $3.25 million.

Heineman is in his first full season in North America. However, he has had some injury problems while with the Rocket. In mid-October, a collision with a referee put the former Leksands product out for almost two months. However, he scored three points over his last four games with Laval, and has earned his first call up to the NHL.

The Canadiens are currently sixth in the Atlantic Division with 27 points, only four back of the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.