• Newly-acquired Nesterov set to make Montreal debut

• Injured Canadiens expected to return soon

• GM Marc Bergevin faces roster challenge

BROSSARD, Que.—Michel Therrien was in a great mood on Monday.

Fresh off his first appearance as a coach in the NHL All-Star Game, the bench boss of the Canadiens returned to Montreal to manage a practice that featured a new face in defenceman Nikita Nesterov and a few familiar ones that had been missing over the last number of weeks.

"As soon as I hit the plane after the game [Sunday], I started to think about our week and our lines and all that type of stuff," said Therrien.

He couldn’t hide his excitement over getting some players off of the injured reserve list to help the Canadiens contend with playing four games over the next six nights.

As for managing a restocked lineup, Therrien said it won’t present any type of challenge for him.

"[Getting players back] is a great problem to have," he said.

It might be a complex problem for Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin to tackle.

With Nesterov set to make his debut in a Canadiens uniform on Tuesday, with centre David Desharnais all but confirmed to be making his return from a 25-game absence, with defenceman Andrei Markov a possibility to come back after 19 games on the sidelines, and with top-line centre Alex Galchenyuk and sixth defenceman Greg Pateryn just a couple games away, Bergevin’s going to have some tinkering to do.

The acquisition of Nesterov, who came over from the Lightning last Thursday, already pushed the Montreal GM to subject depth defenceman Zach Redmond to waivers on Monday. Returns for Markov and Pateryn could force him to do the same with Mark Barberio.

"That’s hockey," said Barberio. "It’s a good thing to have all these bodies back for what we hope is going to be a good push towards the playoffs. I just have to do my job to make sure I can be a part of it."

Barberio, who earned a two-year contract with the Canadiens last summer after registering two goals and eight assists in 30 games with the team last season, has been serviceable over 26 games this season.

Bergevin was able to sneak the 26-year-old through waivers after training camp before recalling him in November, but he might have a harder time doing it this time around.

Losing Barberio for nothing, after the Nesterov deal was made to bolster the team’s depth on the left side of the blue line, probably wouldn’t be too palatable for Bergevin.

We’ve already posited that the Canadiens manager could have another trade on the burner. Healthy returns for several players over the next week brings us closer to finding out if that is in fact the case.

Another option that would help keep Baberio in the fold for longer would be sending forwards Jacob De La Rose and Daniel Carr—both of whom do not require waivers—to the AHL once Galchenyuk comes off injury reserve.

It’s a move that would leave the Canadiens with eight defencemen and no extra forward.

But all of these things are Bergevin’s domain. No matter how he slices it, his coach now gets to manage a roster that closer resembles the one he put together at start the season—the one that flew out of the gate to register a 13-1-1 record before injuries hit.

It’s no wonder Therrien was in such good spirits on Monday.