Jesperi Kotkaniemi will be out for the rest of the season because of an injury to his spleen the Montreal Canadiens forward sustained in an American Hockey League game March 6.
Kotkaniemi was injured playing for Laval. He was hospitalized overnight in Cleveland and returned to Montreal the next day. He played 36 NHL games this season, scoring eight points (six goals, two assists). The 19-year-old was assigned to Laval on Feb. 1. The No. 3 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Kotkaniemi played 79 NHL games last season and had 34 points (11 goals, 23 assists).
