With Artturi Lehkonen missing due to an injury and Torrey Mitchell a late scratch against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien decided to dress seven defencemen and to move rookie Victor Mete to forward.

Mete skated at left wing on a line with Jacob De La Rose and Byron Froese on Tuesday night, logging 7:06 of ice time in the 2-1 overtime loss.

“He did a good job,” Julien told the Montreal Gazette of Mete. “I had talked to him already and he said he had played there before at times with his junior team in London. He actually said: ‘They put me at centre every once in a while when they wanted some speed.’ So I told him: ‘Centre’s not going to happen, but I can put you on the wing.’

“He skated well. He made a great play there that one time in the first period for a scoring chance, so I thought he bailed us out really well.”

Mete finished the night plus-1, bringing the 19-year-old to a minus-2 on the season with three assists. 

Mete was projected to pair with Joe Morrow against the Blue Jackets, but an illness to Mitchell led to Brandon Davidson entering the lineup and Mete leaving the blue line.

A fourth-round pick of the Canadiens in 2016, Mete opened the season playing alongside Shea Weber in the team's top pairing. He's seen his ice time drop this month, however, and has not logged more than 16:30 of ice time in a game since Oct. 26.

He scored 15 goals and posted 44 points in 50 games with the OHL's London Knights last season.