- Forward Elmer Soderblom remains day-to-day for the Detroit Red Wings despite not playing for weeks, per head coach Derek Lalonde today. Lalonde said Soderblom’s return from a lower-body injury is “probably going to take some time,” and there’s still no clear indication when the rookie could return. Defenseman Gustav Lindstrom could play this week, though. The Swede is also day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Red Wings Rumors
Detroit Red Wings Re-Assign Austin Czarnik
For the fourth time this season, Austin Czarnik is headed to the AHL. The Detroit Red Wings have sent him back down after just two days on his most recent recall, one that didn’t come with any game action.
The 29-year-old forward is getting a chance to play for his hometown team this season, and even scored in his second game with Detroit. But the suddenly deep forward group of the Red Wings doesn’t leave much room for him on a regular basis, even when dealing with a handful of injuries. The team activated Tyler Bertuzzi from injured reserve a few days ago, meaning Czarnik was sitting in the press box last night in San Jose.
Now that the team is back east, playing in Columbus tomorrow before a five-game homestand, they don’t need to carry the extra forward. Sending Czarnik down stops his waivers clock and saves the team some cap space until they need him again.
In four games so far this year, Czarnik has scored one goal and recorded six hits. His play at the minor league level has been much more impressive (as usual), with five goals and ten points in eight games for the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Detroit Red Wings Activate Tyler Bertuzzi
The Detroit Red Wings are getting a huge piece back healthy tonight for their matchup against the struggling Anaheim Ducks. Forward Tyler Bertuzzi has been activated off injured reserve, according to the team Tuesday night. To make room on the roster, the team placed forward Elmer Soderblom on injured reserve retroactive to November 8.
Bertuzzi played in just two games this season before sustaining a broken hand, registering an assist. He’s expected to return to his top-line role alongside Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond.
Detroit has still managed to get off to a 7-5-3 start without him, staying competitive in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. If Bertuzzi can capture last year’s form, where he scored 62 points in 68 games, he’ll fortify what’s already been a strong top six and help them keep pace.
In Bertuzzi’s absence, though, Dominik Kubalik has done a spectacular job providing depth scoring behind Larkin – if you can even call it depth. After going unqualified by the Chicago Blackhawks last offseason, Kubalik has 18 points through his first 15 games as a Red Wing to lead the team.
Soderblom has missed the team’s last two games and is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. He is eligible to return at any time, given the seven-day waiting period on IR retroactively expires as of tonight, but the team will need to make a corresponding roster move to create an open space.
Bertuzzi, Walman Returning Soon; Soderblom Day-To-Day
- The Detroit Red Wings have had themselves an up-and-down start to the season, currently holding a record of 7-4-3. While many had high hopes for the team after a busy offseason, their record through 14 games may be better than it seems given the team’s difficult injury issues early on. In fact, some of those injury woes may be resolving themselves shortly, says Michigan Live’s Answer Kahn. As Kahn writes, rookie forward Elmer Soderblom, who missed Thursday’s game against the New York Rangers, is still considered day-to-day. Defenseman Jake Walman, who had shoulder surgery this offseason, is expected to return to the lineup and make his season debut at some point during Detroit’s four game road trip, which begins tonight in Los Angeles against the Kings and concludes a week from tonight against the Blue Jackets in Columbus. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who suffered a broken hand just two games into the season, is expected to return Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks.
Detroit Red Wings Recall Berggren, Smith
The Detroit Red Wings have added two forwards to the roster, recalling Jonatan Berggren and Givani Smith ahead of their game tonight. The moves follow Matt Luff’s injury and come before a four-game road trip that includes three California games starting this weekend.
Smith, 24, played 46 games last season for the Red Wings and has already suited up twice this year, adding his patented brand of physical hockey to the bottom six. The young forward racked up 108 penalty minutes last year, to go along with four goals and seven points – all career highs. He projects as a fourth liner or extra forward at this point, bouncing up and down whenever needed.
It’s Berggren that will draw much of the attention, given the unknown upside that he brings. The 22-year-old Swede was selected 33rd overall in 2018 and developed into a star in Europe before coming to North America last season. In 70 games for Grand Rapids, he scored 21 goals and 64 points, impressive totals for a player experiencing the exhausting AHL schedule for the first time. This year, he’s back with seven points in seven games for the Griffins and will now presumably get his first crack in the NHL.
Whenever he does make it into the lineup, Berggren will be making his NHL debut. It’s not clear when that will be, however, as just yesterday head coach Derek Lalonde told reporters including Ansar Khan of MLive that David Perron and Oskar Sundqvist would be healthy enough to go tonight.
Matt Luff To Undergo Wrist Surgery
Montreal Canadiens Juraj Slafkovsky might face a short suspension after his hearing with the Department of Player Safety later today but Matt Luff, the player he hit, is out much longer. Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde told reporters including Ansar Khan of MLive that Luff will miss 10-12 weeks after wrist surgery on Thursday.
Luff, 25, had seen regular action on the Red Wings’ fourth line the last little while, playing in seven games and scoring a goal against the New York Rangers on Sunday. That spot will now have to be filled by someone else for the next few months, potentially leaving Luff without a role to return to. It’s a tough result for a player still trying to establish himself as an everyday NHL player, one who played just 23 games at that level last season.
Slafkovsky, meanwhile, may actually face a stiffer penalty as the league does take injury into consideration when doling out supplementary discipline. The hit from behind that sent Luff sprawling into the boards was enough for a hearing, and this news will only create more reason to hand the first-overall pick his first suspension.
Juraj Slafkovsky To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety
The Montreal Canadiens are once again under the microscope of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. NHL Player Safety announced on Twitter that Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky will have a hearing today for boarding Detroit Red Wings forward Matt Luff in last night’s game.
The incident in question came close to the end of the third period of the Red Wings’ shootout loss to the Canadiens. The Red Wings won a defensive zone faceoff, and Luff had carried the puck up to the red line. He attempted to chip a puck past Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson, who promptly swatted Luff’s chip attempt back down towards Luff. At that point, Luff attempted to send the bouncing puck into the offensive zone, but after whiffing on his first attempt was driven into the boards by Slafkovsky, who was gliding through the neutral zone.
Slafkovsky hit Luff in the numbers, driving him head-first into the boards. Luff looked to be in pain as he got up and left the ice, and coach Derek Lalonde said postgame that Luff would be out “long-term.”
As the 2022 first-overall pick, last night’s game was Slafkovsky’s tenth in the NHL, so it should not be a surprise that this is his first run-in with the Department of Player Safety. The Canadiens have already lost winger Josh Anderson to a two-game suspension, and it would not be a surprise to see the other Canadiens power forward be handed a similar punishment.
Detroit Red Wings Issue Injury Updates
The Detroit Red Wings have issued an official update on Filip Zadina’s timeline, after suffering a lower-body injury a few days ago. The young forward will miss six to eight weeks, pausing what had already been a disappointing start to the season. Head coach Derek Lalonde also announced that Tyler Bertuzzi and Jake Walman will be out another seven to ten days, while Oskar Sundqvist is listed as day-to-day but should play on Thursday.
Zadina, 22, had gone completely scoreless through nine games before suffering the injury, recording just 12 shots on goal. That has been a common theme in his young career, which has resulted in just 25 goals and 61 points through 169 games. Selected sixth overall in 2018 there was so much more expected of the Czech forward, especially when he put up 16 goals as a teenage rookie in the AHL. But scoring has been inconsistent for him in the NHL and now he’ll miss the better part of two months when the team is finally competitive.
If there is a silver lining for Zadina, it’s that he already signed a three-year, $5.475MM contract this summer that locked him in through 2024-25. The Red Wings have enough cap space this year that it doesn’t really matter if he underperforms that $1.825MM cap hit but that won’t always be the case. With Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and others scheduled for unrestricted free agency and in need of big extensions, the money in Detroit will be counted a little more closely moving forward.
Hopefully, this time off can give him a bit of a reset and he’ll come back in a better place, but there will be other players stepping up in his absence. It’s not clear what kind of role will be left for him on his return, especially given how little he was playing before the injury happened.
Filip Zadina Will Be Out Long Term
While the exact injury isn’t yet known, things don’t sound good for Red Wings winger Filip Zadina. Speaking with reporters including Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link) postgame following their overtime victory over the Rangers today, head coach Derek Lalonde indicated the youngster has something broken and that he’ll be out a matter of months, not weeks. The injury occurred back on Saturday after he blocked a shot from Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock.
That’s hardly good news for the 22-year-old who has been trying to establish his role under their new coaching staff. Zadina has struggled out of the gate this season and has been held off the scoresheet through his first nine games while averaging just under 14 minutes a night. He’s in the first season of a three-year, $5.475MM bridge contract.
Detroit has been hit hard when it comes to their wingers this season. Zadina joins Tyler Bertuzzi and Robby Fabbri as wingers that are currently injured while Jakub Vrana is out indefinitely while he’s in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. The Red Wings currently have an open roster spot after placing Zadina on injured reserve late yesterday. Austin Czarnik and Matt Luff have been recent recalls and someone else from AHL Grand Rapids will be getting the call in the near future.
Filip Zadina Suffers Lower-Body Injury: "Doesn't Look Good"
After a major offseason overhaul rivaled only by the Ottawa Senators, expectations have been big for the Detroit Red Wings this season, however the team has gotten itself off to an up-and-down start. Sitting at 5-3-2 coming into today, the team would be faced with one of its tougher tasks of the young season this afternoon: a showdown with the New York Islanders, who were on a five-game winning streak. Detroit answered the call, shutting out the Islanders 3-0. That win appears to have come at a price, however. Forward Filip Zadina went down late in the third period after appearing to block a Ryan Pulock shot.
After the game, Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde, provided an update to the media, including Michigan Live’s Ansar Kahn. According to Lalonde, Zadina’s injury “doesn’t look good” and Detroit may not see the winger for a while, adding that the team would know more tomorrow. Soon to be 23-years-old, Zadina has yet to become the player Detroit hoped he would be when he was drafted sixth-overall in 2018, and has zero points through his first nine games this year, including today. But, with Detroit missing more than its fair share of forwards, including Tyler Bertuzzi, Jakub Vrana, Oskar Sundqvist, and Robby Fabbri, losing Zadina for any period of time will surely be felt.
- New York Rangers center Filip Chytil expects to play in the team’s game tomorrow afternoon against the Red Wings. While Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant did not confirm that Chytil would be in the lineup, the forward did tell USA Today Sports’ Vince Mercogliano that he feels 100%. Still, Gallant is hopeful he can play Sunday. Chytil, who hasn’t played since October 23rd, was believed to be dealing with a concussion, said Larry Brooks of the New York Post. The 23-year-old had three points in six games prior to the injury.