There was no practice for the Montreal Canadiens this morning. Still, Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reported that Canadiens sniper Patrik Laine has sought a second opinion on his lower-body injury, but that he was still listed as day-to-day.

A few hours later, Grant McCagg on his Habscast wondered if the big Finn might have re-injured the knee that caused him to miss the first two months of the season last year. He adds that while the Canadiens called it a knee sprain, he heard through the grapevine that it was more likely a tear.

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As we know, Laine decided to opt for rehab rather than have surgery after seeking a second opinion because he didn’t want to miss the whole season. It worked, but playing on a torn ligament that has not been surgically repaired is tricky business, as no matter how much rehab you do and how much you build the muscles around the knee, it will remain unstable.

McCagg wonders if that might be the issue and explain the picture making the rounds on social media shows the bench celebrating a game-winning goal with Laine remaining seated on the bench. Some speculated that it was Laine's unhappiness due to his own ice time and role, but a serious injury bothering him sounds like a more likely explanation to me.

While it was understandable for Laine not to want to miss the entirety of the last season, if the knee is still bothering him and he has to undergo surgery this season, it will be a disaster for him. He’s currently in a contract year, and he has been confined to the fourth line at even strength and the second wave of the power play, leaving him with very little ice time. To say that he’s failed to impress this season would be fair, even if he was putting in the effort to play a more complete game on both sides of the puck.

If he has to call it a season, he likely won’t have shown enough to get a contract extension with the Canadiens, which is something that he seemed to be interested in. For the Canadiens, given the start of the season, they at least know that they can win without Laine playing a significant part. Kent Hughes said last season that without Laine, the Canadiens wouldn’t have made the playoffs, but this season, he hasn't been a key to the team’s success.

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