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Andrei Markov’s wonky knee is still pretty wonky

Vancouver Canucks v Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL- NOVEMBER 9: Andrei Markov #79 of the Montreal Canadiens waits for a faceoff during the NHL game Vancouver Canucks at the Bell Centre on November 9, 2010 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Canucks 2-0. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

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This summer, the Montreal Canadiens signed Andrei Markov to a three-year, $17.25 million extension even in spite of missing most of last season after injuring his ACL against Carolina last November. While Markov is a leader on the ice for the Habs and a key offensive player when healthy, any player coming back after missing nearly a year of action is going to run into some problems being rusty. In Markov’s case, things are a little bit worse.

Team 990 radio host Tony Marinaro tweeted that Markov’s comeback was slowed down three weeks ago due to having water on his knee. Markov had the knee drained, but with training camp starting this week Markov getting him on the ice first thing in camp is in doubt. After all, having him be totally healthy is more important than getting him on the ice with only regard to the schedule.

As Arpon Basu of CTV Montreal finds out from Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier, they’re making absolutely sure that Markov is ready to go before pushing him on the ice.

“It’s always a risk when you sign older players, first, and it’s a bigger risk when you sign older players who have had injuries,” Gauthier said. “But you evaluate that as a calculated risk, and you also evaluate what your options are. In the case of Mr. Markov, he’s such a professional, such a hard working person. One of the things that was interesting about his knee is he had absolutely no collateral damage. The ACL was torn a second time, but in a lot of cases with knee injuries there’s something else that’s gone wrong, like an MCL or some cartilage. In his case it was strictly one band that was ruptured. So we feel pretty good about his prognosis.”

The last two years Markov has played a total of 52 games, 60 if you count the playoffs as he played in eight playoff games in 2009-2010. Signing him to a three-year deal for that much money considering how his knees have been treated the last two seasons was risky, but a situation the Canadiens felt compelled to stick by Markov through. There’s no doubt the Habs are a better team with Markov on the ice, but they’ve managed to be a playoff team without his services for the most part anyhow.

While Markov’s knee is still a problem, they can’t feel compelled to hurry him back to the ice. The Habs are better off filling his spot for the time being and allowing P.K. Subban to be their offensive spark plug and power play leader on the blue line until Markov is 100% ready to go. If/when Markov returns, Montreal’s defense becomes that much deeper and solid. They’ll just have to hope that Markov doesn’t suffer anymore setbacks and can help lead the Habs back into the playoffs on a full-time basis rather than soldiering on without him.