The Canadiens announce the recall of Mitchell Stephens

We’re talking about Mitchell Stephens.

The 26-year-old veteran is the Rocket’s third-highest scorer this season, tied with Sean Farrell.

There’s a connection to be made with Alex Newhook’s injury.

We don’t yet know the full details of his injury, but seeing the Habs recall a forward suggests that it’s not a good sign.

Mitchell Stephens is a natural center forward. Newhook had been playing wing for a few games, but Stephens’ recall means that the Habs now have five (healthy) centers in their lineup: Stephens, Nick Suzuki, Christian Dvorak, Sean Monahan and Jake Evans.

One of these centers will have to be moved to the wing… And that opens the door for Sean Monahan to return to the team’s first line-up, alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

The Habs haven’t been playing well offensively in recent games, and the idea of reuniting Monahan and Caufield with Suzuki must be raised, because we know the combination works.

The Rocket play tonight in Abbotsford and Stephens will have to miss the game. I’d be curious to know if he made the trip with the team, by the way. If he did, he’ll have to get back to Montreal quickly because the Habs play tomorrow night at the Bell Centre.

Extension

To compensate for the “loss” of Stephens, the Rocket had to recall Nolan Yaremko from the Trois-Rivières Lions.

Ah, the infamous Canadiens injury situation…