MONTREAL -- In what is turning into a completely unpredictable season in the National Hockey League, and even more so in Montreal, the Canadiens may have to turn to Cameron Hillis, a player who started the season with the East Coast League's Trois-Rivieres Lions, tomorrow afternoon against the Florida Panthers.

Brendan Gallagher was injured on Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes and did not practice Friday afternoon in Sunrise, Florida due to a lower-body injury.

He is doubtful for Saturday's game. If Gallagher misses the game, Hillis will be making his first NHL start.

"There's a chance, but for now, for me, I see it as minimal," said head coach Dominique Ducharme on Friday afternoon when asked about Gallagher's status.

"We'll see tomorrow, maybe he'll participate in the warm-up and we'll make a decision then. Since it's an early game, we don't have ice in the morning. It's not totally out of the question that he could be in the game, but the percentage is not that high," said Ducharme.

Not sure what to expect, Hillis, a 21-year-old centre, is trying to savour the moment as much as possible.

"I'd say I'm pretty lucky to be here. It's only been a few months into the season, but I feel like I've been through a lot this year," he said. "From the ECHL, back to Laval, now, here. I'm just trying to get the most out of every day I spend here and learn from the people around me."

A third-round pick, 66th overall, in 2018, Hillis had three assists in six games with Trois-Rivières before being recalled by the Rocket in mid-November. In eight games with the Laval team, he had two goals and as many assists.

Hillis also played 18 games with the Rocket last season and scored one goal.

"We'll see what happens tomorrow, but if he plays, it will be an experience to see the level of play and where he stands as a player. For us, it's also an opportunity to see where he is as a player," said Ducharme.

"He's a player who skates well, who has a good sense of hockey. He's still green, he needs some mileage, he needs to work on his game, but that's the situation for us right now. We need to get as much out of it as we can and for the players that are in those situations, they need to get as much out of it as they can, take advantage of those games to understand where they stand and where they need to go. I think it's something unusual, but that's the situation, and let's make the most of it. That's all we can do," the Habs coach said.

While Gallagher is a doubt, it appears that Jonathan Drouin could be in uniform on Saturday.

Absent Thursday due to an unrelated virus, Drouin was on the ice with his teammates Friday.

"He was feeling much better and I'm confident he'll be back tomorrow," said Ducharme.

Samuel Montembeault will be in net for the Habs on Saturday. After not playing for a month, it will be his third consecutive start and first career start against the team that selected him in the third round of the 2015 draft.

"I'm looking forward to playing them. They're a team with talent. It's going to be a good test,'' he said the day before the game.

COVID-19 PROTOCOL LIST GROWS FOR THE HABS

Montreal Canadiens forward Brandon Baddock's name has been submitted to the National Hockey League's COVID-19 protocol.

The Habs made the announcement in a news release on Friday afternoon, just before the start of the team's practice session, scheduled for 1 p.m. in Sunrise, Florida.

The Habs also announced that forward Brendan Gallagher will not participate in the practice due to a lower-body injury.

The Habs will complete a three-game stretch in five days in the southeastern United States on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Florida Panthers.

In its release, the Habs noted that Baddock is being monitored by team doctors and continues to follow NHL guidelines and protocols.

Baddock's name joins forwards Paul Byron, Laurent Dauphin, Mike Hoffman, Artturi Lehkonen and Tyler Toffoli, defensemen Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, Jeff Petry and Chris Wideman, and goalies Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau.

The team's goaltending coach, Eric Raymond, is also listed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.

A 26-year-old left winger, Baddock played in his first game with the Habs on Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. It was his first official career NHL game. He made 13 appearances and played just over eight minutes.

This season with the Laval Rocket, Baddock has two goals and four assists in 23 games with 35 penalty minutes.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 31, 2021.