Montreal Canadiens Nathan Beaulieu and Zach Redmond Returning
The Montreal Canadiens announced that Defensemen Nathan Beaulieu and Zach Redmond will return tonight vs the Devils.
The Montreal Canadiens have announced some good news today, and Nathan Beaulieu will return to the lineup tonight vs the Devils. Yesterday, the Canadiens announced that Forwards Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais would miss the next 6-8 weeks with lower body injuries. Obviously, Beaulieu’s return won’t fill the void left by Galchenyuk but it does improve the Habs defense corps.
This season Nathan Beaulieu started the season on the Canadiens top defensive pairing with Shea Weber. However, after only a few games, Beaulieu was removed off the top pairing and was paired up with Greg Pateryn on the bottom pairing. Beaulieu has played well with Pateryn and they have been very solid together.
In 20 games this season, Beaulieu has scored one goal and totaled six points. Beaulieu is still a very young player but has exceptional speed and offensive ability. The Canadiens should try and get Beaulieu more involved in offensive situations as the season continues.
Redmond to Make His Debut
The Canadiens also announced that Defensemen Zach Redmond will play his first game as a Canadien tonight. Redmond broke his foot about seven weeks ago and was placed on the Habs Injured Reserve list. Zach was able to return to practice and he was announced as healthy while the Canadiens were on their road trip, but he was made a healthy scratch.
Head coach Michel Therrien says Zach Redmond will play tonight. He also confirmed that Phillip Danault should be good to go. #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 8, 2016
Last season Redmond played with the Colorado Avalanche and appeared in 37 games. Zach scored two goals and totaled six points. In Redmond’s career he has played 114 games and has scored 33 points.
Final Thoughts
Redmond will probably be paired with Nathan Beaulieu on the bottom pairing. It will be interesting to see how much both of these player will play because of not playing together at all this season. Also, both Beaulieu and Redmond may need some time to adjust to the speed of the game and Therrien will probably only try to get them out against the Devils bottom six forward groupings.
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