The Montreal Canadiens announced a couple lineup changes ahead of Saturday night’s game against the New York Rangers.
The team will be without its second-leading scorer, Alexander Radulov, who has a lower-body injury. Radulov has been a great contributor for the Canadiens this season, his first back in the NHL since leaving for Russia’s KHL in 2012-13. In 63 games, Radulov has 15 goals and 46 points.
His injury is considered day-to-day.
The 30-year-old is making $5.75 million against the salary cap this season and is a UFA at the end of the season. According to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels, it’s not likely the team will re-sign Radulov prior to the expansion draft, since they would have to use a protection spot so the Vegas Golden Knights don’t select him. The team is, however, interested in re-signing him.
Drawing into the lineup are Steve Ott and Andreas Martinsen, two players the Habs acquired at the NHL trade deadline this week.
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