The Red Wings have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their final game before the holiday break tonight against New Jersey. The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Alex Lyon has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to December 16th. Taking his place on the roster will be defenseman Simon Edvinsson who has been recalled from AHL Grand Rapids.
Lyon signed with Detroit as a free agent back in July in what was expected to be a third-string role. However, instead of going through waivers and playing with the Griffins, the Red Wings have elected to keep three goalies up with the big club. As a result, playing time has been quite difficult to come by for the 31-year-old. But to his credit, Lyon has played quite well when called upon, posting a 2.14 GAA and a .932 SV% in his seven appearances, numbers that are considerably better than teammates Ville Husso and James Reimer. With the placement being back-dated by a week, he’ll be eligible to be activated for their next game on Wednesday versus Minnesota.
As for Edvinsson, the 20-year-old is in his second full season in North America. The sixth pick in 2021, Edvinsson got into nine games with Detroit last year (meaning he didn’t burn the first year of his contract) and this is his first promotion of 2023-24. He has been quite productive with the Griffins with six goals and ten assists in 25 games, already passing his goal total from a year ago.