The Detroit Red Wings have lost their seventh regular roster player to injury as Justin Abdelkader left Thursday’s game against the Florida Panthers after falling awkwardly in a collision with Vincent Trocheck. He has a slight MCL strain.
Detroit Red Wings’ Justin Abdelkader Out 2-4 Weeks
The injury to Abdelkader comes at a bad time as the Red Wings hit the road this weekend to play three games in four days.
#RedWings do have 12 Fs available, Drew Miller has been reserve. Need call-up on D, unless Niklas Kronwall plays back-to-back (unlikely).
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) December 2, 2016
Abdelkader has recorded four goals and four assists in 22 games this season. The Red Wings see great promise in having Abdelkader in the lineup. They gave him a shiny new seven year, $29.75 million contract and named him an alternate captain in the offseason. He’s a consistent performer on the ice and a motivating voice off of it. It hurts the team having him out of the lineup.
Call Ups Are Impending
With Abdelkader out of the lineup, Drew Miller likely draws back in. He’ll slot onto the fourth line with Steve Ott and Tomas Jurco while Riley Sheahan will take Abdelkader’s spot on a line with Frans Nielsen and Luke Glendening.
#RedWings will recall a forward following tonight's @griffinshockey game, but he won't play tomorrow at Pittsburgh, Ken Holland said.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 2, 2016
Team General Manager Ken Holland will be calling up a forward from the Grand Rapids Griffins tonight, but the big question is who. Mitch Callahan feels like a natural fit for the role Abdelkader plays on the ice, but Matt Lorito currently leads the team in scoring. Tomas Nosek could be given another look, as him and Lorito are waiver exempt opposed to Callahan. The other option is the non-waiver exempt Martin Frk who hasn’t been able to find a spot on an NHL roster.
The team may also require a defenseman to be called up, as veteran Niklas Kronwall has yet to play in a back-to-back this season and will likely need a rest on Sunday when the Red Wings visit the New York Islanders.
Despite Injuries, Red Wings Performing
Despite their terrible luck with injuries over the last couple of weeks, the Red Wings have been finding ways to win. They’ve collected eight points in their last five games, four of which came against teams within the Atlantic Division. Speedster Andreas Athanasiou should be ready to return to the lineup at some point in the next week. They just need to survive the weekend.
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