Emil Heineman Will Miss Some Time

Hockey is a demanding sport. The rigors of the sport can take a toll throughout a season but so can the travel. Driving an automobile can be dangerous and that’s where Heineman caught a bad break. He was involved in a traffic accident as a pedestrian and will now miss 3-4 weeks. That's probably the best case scenario.

Related: Emil Heineman Is Having a Sneaky Good Rookie Season

Heineman practiced with the team yesterday and then was involved in the accident as detailed by the Montreal Canadiens on social media. Looks like he was by himself somewhere in Salt Lake City. That’s a tough break for the young forward who now has an upper-body injury.

Looks like the fourth line will be changing again and left-wing Michael Pezzetta may draw in. There could be more changes if Alex Newhook doesn’t shake the flu. But I’ll focus on the fourth line for now.

Pezzetta has no points in seven games this season and is only averaging 6:25 of ice time, so this would be a step down for the line. According to InStat, he is averaging 2.1 hits per game and wins 48% of his puck battles, so that element will still be on the line, but Martin St. Louis will almost certainly juggle lines in-game.

The NHL season has a lot of ups and downs and the Canadiens are playing good hockey and will have to overcome this adversity. All good teams have to do this. This injury wasn’t at the rink but replacing Heineman for that period of time will be a loss of offense for sure.