Canadiens place Artturi Lehkonen in COVID protocol; Joel Armia, Mathieu Perreault land on IR

The Montreal Canadiens made a slew of roster moves on Saturday, adding Artturi Lehkonen to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol and placing Joel Armia and Mathieu Perreault on injured reserve, per a team announcement.

Armia is out with an undisclosed injury after being a game-time decision on Thursday. He’s been in and out of the lineup this month with an undisclosed ailment and has just five points in 29 games this year. He signed a four-year extension worth $3.4M with the team this past offseason.

Perreault was classified as day-to-day with a lower-body injury on Thursday. He has three goals (a hat trick) and an assist in 14 games this year, battling an eye injury early in the season.

Both Armia and Perreault are ineligible to play until after the holiday break. Lehkonen is the only Canadien officially in the COVID protocol. Through all 31 games this year, he had four goals and seven assists.

The Habs will likely have to make some recalls, as these transactions leave them with just 10 active forwards on the roster.