Montreal Canadiens defenceman Shea Weber will be out of action for five to six months as he undergoes surgery for a meniscal tear, the team announced in a statement on Thursday.

The 2018-19 NHL season is still three months away from beginning, and the Habs will already have to spend considerable time without their top defenceman. A foot injury forced Weber to only play 26 games in 2017-18, and now he's bound to miss a significant chunk of 2018-19.

This does not bode well for a physical blueliner who turns 33 in August, and more criticism will be headed towards the way of general manager Marc Bergevin, who traded franchise star P.K. Subban for Weber two summers ago.

Weber's first season with the Canadiens was a massive success, as he scored 17 goals and 42 points while helping the team capture the Atlantic Division crown. However, the Canadiens faltered completely in 2017-18 and were unable to recover when Weber went down with the aforementioned foot injury.

In comparison, Subban led the Nashville Predators to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, where they fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. A year later, the Preds won their first-ever Presidents' Trophy, and were one victory away from punching a second consecutive ticket to the Western Conference Final.

Bergevin has had a busy offseason so far, trading away Alex Galchenyuk for another talented but underperforming young player in Max Domi. He also did a trade with the Winnipeg Jets, taking on the final year of Steve Mason's contract and landing forward Joel Armia, with the former getting bought out.

In his first year on the job, Bergevin took over a miserable Habs squad and led them to a division title. Now with Weber out long-term, the pressure is on Bergevin to piece together the right roster as they try to win another championship.

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