With the Canadiens carrying just six healthy defensemen on their roster and Justin Barron leaving Thursday’s game early due to injury, they’ve brought up an extra rearguard as Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports (Twitter link) that Corey Schueneman has been recalled.
It’s the third recall of the season for the 27-year-old who was brought up for a pair of short stints in October although he didn’t get into any NHL appearances during that time. Schueneman has suited up in 43 games with AHL Laval this season, picking up five goals and 13 assists. Schueneman does have some NHL experience under his belt, however, as he got into 24 games with the Canadiens last season where he picked up six points and 40 blocked shots while averaging 16:36 per night.
Early indications are that Barron should be able to play tonight against Toronto so Schueneman, a pending unrestricted free agent, is likely just being added to the roster as an insurance policy at this point. To make room for him on the roster, defenseman Arber Xhekaj was placed on injured reserve. He’s out indefinitely after sustaining an upper-body injury last weekend. The team announced (Twitter link) that he’ll see a specialist next week with an update to come at that time.