The Detroit Red Wings have announced that they will miss forward Andreas Athanasiou for two to three weeks. Athanasiou suffered a lower-body injury in the Red Wings’ last contest on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road. Athanasiou was struggling offensively this season, as his time out with the injury comes at an unfortunate time for him and his team. The Red Wings occupy the last spot in the NHL as of now.
Andreas Athanasiou (lower body) out 2-3 weeks per Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill.
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) December 31, 2019
Andreas Athanasiou Out for Detroit Red Wings
Andreas Athanasiou is the former 110th overall draft pick by the Red Wings in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL Draft. The natural left-shot winger has made his NHL debut in the 2014-15 season with Detroit. Last year, Athanasiou reached 30 goals and 54 overall points, which was his career-high in both categories. This season, the 25-year-old winger has participated in 36 contests gathering only five goals and 14 assists for 19 points.
His goal-scoring woes were a point for concern for the Red Wings. Nevertheless, Athanasiou has accumulated three assists for three points in his last four games. During the 2019-20 campaign, Athanasiou averages 16:40 of ice-time per game with CF% of 45.9.
Injury List Grows for the Detroit Red Wings
Athanasiou’s lower-body injury comes at a very unfortunate time for the Red Wings as he was finding his game recently. Against the Lightning on Sunday, Athanasiou skated on the top line for the Red Wings alongside Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin. Detroit has lost six straight games.
Apart from the Athanasiou’s injury, the Red Wings are still missing another highly-skilled forward in Anthony Mantha, and a pair of defencemen in Danny DeKeyser and Jonathan Ericsson. The Red Wings host the San Jose Sharks on New Year’s Eve in Detroit.
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