MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens will open the Bell Centre on Tuesday without Ivan Demidov, who’s slated to miss up to four weeks with a lower-body injury.

This wasn’t the news the Canadiens were hoping for when the 20-year-old Russian winger opted for treatment and rest rather than practice Monday. Demidov, who led all NHL rookies in scoring with 19 goals and 62 points last season, is one of their best players, even if he hasn’t looked quite like his dominant self since taking a shot off the heel toward the end of a pre-season game Sept 21.

Now we won’t see Demidov for at least two weeks. And if it’s as much as four weeks, that would amount to a 12-game absence.

That would be 12 games without Demidov’s exceptional playmaking, 12 games without his crucial presence on the power play, 12 games without him deflecting some of the attention top guns Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slakfovsky ritually get from the opposition, and that’ll undeniably hurt the Canadiens.

Even if they feel they have the depth to overcome his absence.

“I don’t think it impacts the way we’re going to play,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis ahead of Tuesday’s home opener against the Carolina Hurricanes. “If anything, it gives opportunity to somebody else to make some plays. And, if anything, we have the depth for that, and I think the way our lines are shaped, we have depth on all of them, and we can come in waves, and I’m confident that we can keep going knowing that we lost a pretty big piece.”

The Canadiens already were without second-line centre Oliver Kapanen, who’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury and still unprepared to jump into games. And Demidov wasn’t exactly flying through his first two games, despite recording a goal and an assist in his last one — a 6-5 overtime loss in Pittsburgh last Saturday.

Still, there’s no confirmation his pre-season injury has lingered, with St. Louis saying he’d have to speak with Canadiens trainer Jim Ramsay to decipher as to whether this is a new one.

Regardless, Demidov’s absence is a challenge for the Canadiens right out of the gate.

“Whenever you lose a guy, it tests your depth,” said St. Louis. “Demi plays important minutes. His absence will change the power play a bit.”

It’ll likely push Slafkovsky to the half-wall Demidov typically occupies, and St. Louis confirmed it’ll bring newcomer Chris Kreider onto the first wave of the power play.

At five-on-five, with both Demidov and Kapanen both out, Kirby Dach will move up and play alongside Alex Newhook and Slafkovsky, and behind Caufield, Suzuki and Kreider to complete the top six against the Hurricanes.

Dach’s vault leaves a vacancy in the bottom six, which will first be filled by Florian Xhekaj, who will make his season debut on a line with Jake Evans and Josh Anderson.

A line of Zachary Bolduc, Phillip Danault and Alexandre Texier rounds out that group, giving the Canadiens the type of balance St. Louis was talking about.

But Demidov’s skill can’t adequately be replaced by any of those players, and that could prove problematic for the Canadiens as early as Tuesday.

The game against the Hurricanes, who knocked them out in a five-game Eastern Conference Final before capturing the Stanley Cup last spring, already was going to be a huge test out of the gate.

It’ll be one of many the Canadiens will face without Demidov, who might not return before November.