Matheson Back Just in Time for the Road Trip to Get Harder

Mike Matheson is set to return against the Blackhawks, the team confirmed Friday, ending a stretch on the sideline that had stretched from a lower-body injury first reported October 13. The timing is about as good as Montreal could have hoped for, given everything else going on.

Everything else being Nick Suzuki, who is out two to four weeks with an upper-body injury and won't be making this road trip. I covered the streak ending yesterday — 546 consecutive regular-season games, gone. The forward group now has to figure out how to function without its captain, and the recalled Owen Beck figures to get a real look at center.

That puts more weight on the blue line to be steady, which is where Matheson comes back in. Lane Hutson has been the most productive defenseman on the roster through the early going, and Kaiden Guhle is there behind him, but Matheson is the veteran anchor of that group. His absence was one reason the team had to pull David Reinbacher up from Laval earlier this month. Getting him back doesn't solve the Suzuki problem, but it at least means the defense isn't also short-handed heading into a road stretch.

The center depth remains a real concern regardless. Luke Mittelstadt is the top center by playing time right now, and he hasn't been producing at the level the position demands. With Suzuki out, that gap gets louder. Matheson returning is a net positive — it's just a smaller net positive than the situation probably requires.