Canadiens defenceman David Schlemko out 6 weeks with knee injury

Montreal Canadiens defenceman David Schlemko (21) has been sidelined by a knee injury for up to six weeks. (Graham Hughes/CP)

BROSSARD, Que. — Montreal Canadiens defenceman David Schlemko will be out up to six weeks with a knee injury, head coach Claude Julien said Friday.

Julien said Schlemko injured his knee in Montreal’s 5-3 loss to visiting Toronto on Wednesday.

The injury is a blow to a Canadiens team missing top defenceman Shea Weber to off-season knee surgery and otherwise considered to be thin on the blue line.

Schlemko missed the first 25 games last season after suffering a broken hand on the first day of training camp. He played 37 games with the Canadiens last season, scoring a goal and adding four assists while posting a plus-3 rating.

The Canadiens acquired the 31-year-old Edmonton native from Vegas last off-season in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2019 draft.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.