The Detroit Red Wings have placed Trevor Daley on injured reserve once again, retroactive to November 2nd when he last suited up for the team. In his place comes Dylan McIlrath who has been recalled for the first time this season.
The 10th-overall pick in 2010, McIlrath never did become the physical, shutdown defender the New York Rangers had envisioned. In fact, the 27-year old has played just 50 games in the NHL over his long professional career, spending much more time in the minor leagues for three different organizations.
McIlrath did however play seven games for the Red Wings last season, and has been a staple on the Grand Rapids Griffins blueline for several seasons now. The 6’4″ defenseman was actually re-signed to a two-year, two-way contract in May and cleared waivers before the beginning of the season.
For Daley, this is a relatively quick return to the injured reserve list after spending some time there earlier this season. He was only activated on October 15th and has 11 games under his belt, with no points yet to show. In fact, Daley is averaging fewer than 15 minutes a game this year, by far the lowest amount of his career. The 36-year old is nearing the end of a very productive career, and will need to find some modicum of health to even play a full-time role on the rebuilding Red Wings.
this is just another forgettable long season.no scoring,very little defense and pp and pk that needs fixing.
Time for Daley to go. Always hurt! Go with the younger guys and let them prove they either belong in the NHL or are career minor leaguers.
I agree with you ..
Last year of Daley’s contract. At this point, the Wings should hope that he can provide some off-ice leadership to younger players whenever possible. Any sort of meaningful on-ice contributions cannot be reasonably expected and would be icing on the cake. I hope that he can get healthy again, but if not, it was a solid career and he was able to reach the pinnacle of the sport twice.