Kaiden Guhle skated solo Monday morning, his first ice time since training camp opened last week for the Canadiens.
It's a good sign for the young defenseman, even if he wasn't exactly flying around Brossard yet.
But Guhle wasn't the headline. Alexandre Carrier and Jake Evans also skated alone, an hour ahead of the main group, away from everyone else.
Both are regulars. Neither has practiced with the team since Saturday's game, and that's the kind of detail that makes a Monday morning feel a lot longer.
Nobody's said why. Martin St-Louis hasn't put a label on it, and there's no official word on what's keeping Carrier and Evans off the ice with the group.
Is it precautionary? Is it something worse? Right now, nobody outside the organization actually knows, and guessing does nobody any favors.
With one week to go before the start of the season, the CH's injury list includes three names: Guhle, Evans, and Carrier.
Some players need to take advantage of this opportunity. Florian Xhekaj and David Reinbacher.
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Montreal enters tonight on a two-game preseason win streak, riding a 4-3 decision over Toronto on Saturday to push their record to 2-0-0.
Two roster spots could open up fast for Canadiens prospects
The Canadiens host Ottawa tonight, and there's a real chance neither Carrier nor Evans is in that lineup.
If Carrier sits, that's ice time for Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble on the back end. Simple as that.
It's also a door for the kids. Adam Engstrom and, especially, right-shot David Reinbacher are the names to watch if a blue line spot opens.
Up front, if Evans ends up missing regular season games, that widens the runway for Florian Xhekaj, not his brother Arber, to grab bottom six minutes.
Two players quietly disappearing from group practice a week before puck drop is the hockey equivalent of a car making a weird noise the day before a road trip.
You notice it. You just don't know yet how bad it is.
St-Louis has built a habit of trusting young players when the door opens, and this camp might force his hand on that sooner than planned.
Nothing here is confirmed as serious, and nothing here should be treated as nothing either.
Montreal opens the regular season soon, and this is exactly the kind of story that either fades by Wednesday or turns into the story of the whole camp.
Should the Canadiens shut Carrier and Evans down now instead of risking it before the season opener?
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