Canadiens defenceman Schlemko out up to six weeks with knee injury

BROSSARD, Que. — Montreal Canadiens defenceman David Schlemko will be out up to six weeks with a knee injury, head coach Claude Julien said Friday.

Julien said Schlemko injured his knee in Montreal’s 5-3 loss to visiting Toronto on Wednesday.

The injury is a blow to a Canadiens team missing top defenceman Shea Weber to off-season knee surgery and otherwise considered to be thin on the blue line.

Schlemko missed the first 25 games last season after suffering a broken hand on the first day of training camp.  He played 37 games with the Canadiens last season, scoring a goal and adding four assists while posting a plus-3 rating.