Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield will undergo surgery to his right shoulder and miss the rest of the season, the team said Saturday.
The team said the procedure will take place “in the near future” and an update will be provided after surgery.
His loss is a huge blow for the Canadiens, who are mired in last place in the Atlantic Division.
It’s unclear when Caufield sustained the injury, but Sportsnet said Saturday that he’d been “playing with this shoulder injury for a while.”
The team also announced that forward Jonathan Drouin had been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 16 with an upper-body injury.
Caufield, 22, was the Canadiens’ first-round draft pick in 2019. He leads the team in goals (26) and has 36 points in 46 games season, one behind team leader Nick Suzuki.
In 123 career games since he joined the team late in the 2020-21 season, Caufield has 84 points (53 goals, 31 assists).
Drouin, 27, has no goals and 12 assists in 28 games.
In 455 career games with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2014-17) and Canadiens, Drouin has tallied 75 goals and 189 assists. He was the No. 3 overall pick of the 2013 draft.
–Field Level Media