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.
Red Wings Recall Austin Czarnik
It appears as if Detroit native Austin Czarnik will get an opportunity to suit up for his hometown team as the Red Wings announced that they have recalled the winger from Grand Rapids of the AHL.
The 29-year-old signed with Detroit last summer after splitting last season between the Islanders and Kraken, inking a two-year deal worth the NHL minimum while guaranteeing him $450K in salary each year. This season, he has played exclusively in the minors so far and leads the Griffins in goals (five) while being tied for the lead in points (ten) through his first eight contests.
While Czarnik has bounced back and forth between the NHL and the AHL throughout his career, he has seen action at the top level in each of his first six full professional seasons with a good chance of making it seven now that he’s up with the Red Wings. Overall, he has 15 goals and 30 assists across 142 NHL contests.
Detroit had an open roster spot to work with even after converting winger Matt Luff‘s promotion to a regular recall earlier this week so no corresponding move needed to be made to bring Czarnik up.
Detroit Red Wings Re-Assign Givani Smith
Nov 1: Smith has been returned to the AHL now that Rasmussen’s suspension has been served. In two games, he failed to record a shot on goal.
Oct 29: The Detroit Red Wings announced that they’ve recalled right wing Givani Smith from the Grand Rapids Griffins, their AHL affiliate. No corresponding move has been made, but the team did find out yesterday that forward Michael Rasmussen was suspended for two games for high-sticking Boston Bruins forward David Krejci.
Smith, who has spent his entire career in the Red Wings organization, is playing his sixth professional season since the team drafted him in the second-round back in 2016. The forward has spent parts of three seasons at the NHL level, debuting in 2019-20. Through 83 NHL games to date, Smith has seven goals and seven assists. His production isn’t much better at the AHL level, however he does bring an energetic, gritty presence to whatever lineup he’s in, tallying a career-high 108 penalty minutes in just 46 games last season with Detroit.
While it’s unclear just how long the 24-year-old will be up with the NHL squad, he’ll be joining a strong group that is looking to take the next step after a lengthy rebuild. Detroit is 3-2-2 to start the season, making them one of five teams in the Atlantic Division to have 8 points
Michael Rasmussen Suspended Two Games
3:45 PM: The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has now announced that Rasmussen will be suspended for two games for high-sticking Krejci. This means that he will be first eligible to return to the ice on November 3rd, when the Red Wings take on the Washington Capitals.
8:48 AM: The Detroit Red Wings might be missing one of their big forwards for a little while, as Michael Rasmussen will have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety today. The meeting stems from a collision between the Red Wings forward and Boston Bruins forward David Krejci, where Rasmussen’s stick came down on the side of Krejci’s head.
He received a two-minute minor for high-sticking, while Krejci left the game in considerable pain. It seemed as though the injury was caused by the hit (and potentially a butt-end delivered on contact), not by the follow-through, but the league may take it into account anyway. Krejci did not return to the game.
Rasmussen, 23, is off to a very nice start for the Red Wings, recording five points in seven games. The 6’6″ forward has started to figure out how best to use his size at the NHL level and is delivering far more checks than he did as a youngster. While he is important, he also only plays around 14 minutes a game and can be replaced if given a short suspension.