Montreal Canadiens Make Roster Move Following Injury to Forward Florian Xhekaj

The Montreal Canadiens are gearing up for a busy week as they host the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow night at the Bell Centre as part of the NHL Frozen Frenzy, before heading to Washington to face Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals on Wednesday evening.

From the moment training camp began, the Canadiens have been dealing with several injuries, with Ivan Demidov, Oliver Kapanen and Samuel Montembeault currently on the sidelines with varying return dates.

Joining that trio in the press box for Saturday night's game against the Detroit Red Wings was rookie forward Florian Xhekaj, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury that he likely sustained against the Nashville Predators two nights prior. With Kaiden Guhle returning from offseason adductor surgery, Martin St. Louis opted to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Red Wings. Montreal would go on to win that game 1-0 in a shootout as they improved to 2-2-1 on the the season.

Montreal Canadiens Announce Roster Move Following Injury to Florian Xhekaj

Earlier today, the Canadiens hit the ice for a rare practice at the Bell Centre as they were set for their team photo following the skate. Florian Xhekaj was on the ice after missing Saturday's game, albeit briefly according to RDS' Patrick Froilet.

In a post on X, Froilet shared that Xhekaj left the team's practice after a few minutes and was seen in some discomfort as he was trying to speed up while skating.

With those aforementioned back-to-back games coming up starting tomorrow and no relief coming on the injury front just yet for their forward group, the Canadiens were forced to dip down to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Laval Rocket, to call up 22-year-old Owen Beck.

"The Canadiens have recalled forward Owen Beck from the Laval Rocket." the team shared on social media.

Beck, a second round pick in 2022, did his best to leave an impression on Martin St. Louis and the Canadiens' coaching staff throughout training camp, but unfortunately for him, the team's logjam at forward meant he had to begin the season in Laval.

"Yeah, I’ve been trying to do what I can to make an impact every training camp I come to. It just seems like it’s the same situation year after year. I’m just trying to work on my game every day and, hopefully, break through at one point." Beck said towards the end of training camp, according to Herb Zurkowsky of The Gazette.

It was certainly understandable to see why Beck was frustrated. He's worked his butt off in Laval over the past two seasons and probably thought he should be with the big club in the National Hockey League to start the 2026-27 season. That didn't happen and after a slow start to the year in Laval, registering just one assist in four games, he gets his shot, again, in the NHL and you can expect him to make the most of it.

The Port Hope, Ontario native will likely slot in on the fourth line for Martin St. Louis and with a logjam down the middle (Suzuki, Newhook, Danault, Evans), don't be surprised if Beck is on the wing for tomorrow's clash with the Buffalo Sabres, a rematch of last season's second round series which Montreal won in seven games.

Puck drop for tomorrow's game against the Buffalo Sabres is set for 6:30 pm ET and can be seen on TSN2 and RDS in Canada.