Ivan Demidov will be out 2-4 weeks for the Montreal Canadiens with a lower-body injury.
The 20-year-old forward had a goal and an assist and played 16:03 in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, the most recent game for the Canadiens.
"I don't think it impacts the way are going to play," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said prior to their game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, CARNHL, HHN). "If anything, it gives opportunity to somebody else to make some plays. I feel like we have the depth for that, the way our lines are shaped. I'm confident we can keep going knowing that we lost a pretty good piece."
Demidov played all 82 games last season and had 62 points (19 goals, 43 assists). He finished first among rookies in assists, points, power-play points (20), multipoint games (14, tied for first), was second in power-play goals (seven) and sixth in goals.
He had nine points (three goals, six assists) in 19 Stanley Cup Playoff games to help Montreal advance to the Eastern Conference Final, where they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.
The No. 5 pick by Montreal in the 2024 NHL Draft, Demidov has 66 points (21 goals, 45 assists) in 86 regular-season games and 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 24 playoff games.
Florian Xhekaj will make his season debut Tuesday with Demidov out of the lineup.
"I'm not too worried because I think we're set up well enough to handle it," forward Zachary Bolduc said. "'Demi' is a big piece but we have so much depth, so many players who can play different roles. So we're not worried about managing it well."
NHL.com independent correspondent Sean Farrell contributed to this report
