After missing the previous 31 games with an undisclosed injury, Detroit Red Wings’ defenseman Jeff Petry has been removed from injured reserve and is in the lineup tonight against the Utah Hockey Club, per a team release. Petry, who last played Jan. 2 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, had recently returned to practice. He is skating with Simon Edvinsson on the team’s second defensive pairing. In his first full season in Detroit, Edvinsson has impressed with 26 points, 126 blocked shots, and a plus-4 rating in 65 games.
Although Petry has had just six points in 34 games to begin the year and a minus-seven rating, he has displayed offensive upside throughout his career. The 37-year-old veteran of nearly 1,000 career games has registered 383 points in the NHL and has added an additional 13 points in 48 career playoff tilts. Petry is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent at season’s end. He had a $6.25MM cap hit this season.
While head coach Todd McLellan noted today that Petry can provide solid puck-moving abilities and a veteran presence for the team, he added the difficulty Petry will face in returning after such a lengthy absence. The Red Wings find themselves five points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card spot in the east.
The team also announced today that they reassigned forward Emmitt Finnie to the AHL from the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. He has captained the Blazers this season while recording 37 goals and 84 points through 55 games. The team’s seventh round selection in 2023 draft is shooting up Detroit’s prospect rankings thanks to his lofty numbers on the season. Finnie, 19, appeared in three AHL contests last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, but didn’t record a point.