The Detroit Red Wings bench is looking a little lighter today as they placed three players on injured reserve. The team confirmed that Trevor Daley and Frans Nielsen would be absent after sustaining injuries over the weekend. Jonathan Ericsson, who has been missing since training camp, has also been moved to IR.
Trevor Daley Among Three Red Wings to IR
The #RedWings today recalled Ryan Kuffner, Evgeny Svechnikov, Alex Biega and Oliwer Kaski from @griffinshockey.
Additionally, the #RedWings placed Andreas Athanasiou (retroactive to Sept. 20), Frans Nielsen, Trevor Daley and Jonathan Ericsson on injured reserve. pic.twitter.com/AvbbCXpMuN
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 8, 2019
Detroit announced that they would be without several players on Tuesday afternoon. The team suffered an outbreak of injuries that have depleted their lineup. The Wings will host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday evening.
The club has been missing Ericsson’s presence since training camp. After suffering an undisclosed lower-body injury during a pre-season game, he has yet to appear on the ice for the season. His start will be delayed at least another week now that the Red Wings have officially moved him to IR.
Nielsen left Sunday’s game against the Dallas Stars late in the third period. He took a puck to the head and did not return. The team has not confirmed the extent of the injury. Losing a second player to injury is not the ideal start for the Red Wings.
The loss of a third player is even worse. The team also placed Daley on IR on Tuesday. He is out with an undisclosed lower-body injury that occurred sometime during the matchup against the Stars on Sunday. Daley saw less than eight minutes of ice time during the contest.
What This Means for the Future
The Red Wings are facing some serious holes in their roster. Thankfully for them, they’ve made some call-ups ahead of their faceoff with the Anaheim Ducks.
Ericsson looks like he’ll be out for the foreseeable future. Nielsen and Daley might not be suffering the same fate. Regardless, the team needs to patch their dam. Their top line has been on a tear after forward Anthony Mantha racked up four impressive goals against Dallas.
Detroit reached in their bag of tricks to recall Ryan Kuffner and Evgeny Svechnikov. They also added defencemen Oliwer Kaski and newly acquired Alex Biega.
Kuffner scored his first AHL goal on Sunday during his first game with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Svechnikov could be looking to jumpstart his NHL career with this opportunity. Despite being absent for all of the 2018-19 season, he put up an impressive performance during training camp.
Kaski has a deadly right-handed shot. Fresh out of Finland, the Red Wings should utilize his asset. The club acquired Biega in a late trade on Sunday night with the Vancouver Canucks. He’s appeared in 179 games with the Canucks, totaling 36 points.
Detroit has faced some severe losses early in the season. After everything is said and done, the Red Wings looked internally and hopefully solved their problems.
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – NOVEMBER 17: Trevor Daley #83 of the Detroit Red Wings skates against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on November 17, 2018 in Newark, New Jersey. The Red Wings defeated the Devils 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
