Montreal Canadiens' affiliate Laval Rocket got bad news on Wednesday when it was announced that defenseman Adam Engstrom would be out for at least four weeks with an upper-body injury.
Montreal Canadiens’ prospect Adam Engstrom will be out of action for at least four weeks, the Laval Rocket announced on Wednesday. The Swedish blueliner was injured in Saturday’s game against the Utica Comets and is dealing with an upper-body injury. His absence is a big blow to the organization. Granted, the Canadiens currently have seven defensemen on the NHL roster, but should an injury occur, Engstrom would have been first on the call-up list.
Furthermore, the 22-year-old was enjoying a great season in the AHL, and his pairing with David Reinbacher was the team’s best. In 40 games with the Rocket, Engstrom put up 33 points. He also skated in 11 games with the Habs this season, and while he didn’t pick up any points in the process, he didn’t look out of place at all.
A third-round pick at the 2022 draft, the Swede has developed into a good puck-moving defenseman with smooth skating and puck-handling skills; he can even be physical when the situation calls for it. With so many left-shot defenseman in the organization, decisions will eventually have to be made. Engstrom has NHL potential, but he’s stuck behind Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, Jayden Struble, and Arber Xhekaj. At the very least, he could have been a good asset to move by the trade deadline if the Canadiens felt they couldn’t make room for him in the NHL eventually.
As for the Rocket, he plays a significant role on their blueline and will be sorely missed. Laval currently sits atop the North Division with 71 points. Pascal Vincent and his men have a six-point lead over the Syracuse Crunch, but the Tampa Bay Lightning affiliate does have three games in hand.
The Rocket played its first game without Engstrom on Wednesday and suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Toronto Marlies. It was a tumultuous game, and Vincent was ejected with a couple of minutes left after voicing his displeasure with the officiating. David Reinbacher and Samuel Blais were also assessed 10-minute misconduct penalties by the officials.
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