Abdelkader Out 2-4 Weeks As Injuries Mount For Red Wings
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
At this point, the Red Wings have to be shaking their heads and wondering who's next.
Per multiple reports, Justin Abdelkader will be out two to four weeks after suffering a slight MCL sprain in the Red Wings' overtime loss to the Panthers on Thursday night.
Abdelkader is just the latest addition to Detroit's growing injury ranks. In the past three weeks, the Wings have lost Andreas Athanasiou (knee), Darren Helm (shoulder), Jimmy Howard (groin), Alexey Marchenko (shoulder), Brendan Smith (knee) and Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle.)
None of the aforementioned players appear particularly close to returning. Howard is the furthest along in his recovery, but even he's looking at another week to 10 days of rehab.
But don't expect coach Jeff Blashill to feel sorry for his team. Prior to the Wings game against the Stars on Tuesday night, Blashill was asked if he ever pauses to consider the team's misfortune.
"Not at all. I know that sounds like coach speak but it's not at all," Blashill said. "I'm worried about the 20 guys we have dressed tonight to try to win a hockey game. Beyond that, I think one of the strengths of our organization, and this goes back a number of years, is the depth of players within our organization."
Anthony Mantha was called up from AHL Grand Rapids to fill in for Athanasiou. Ryan Sproul was plugged into the lineup for a resting Niklas Kronwall on the same night, and later took over for Marchenko. Both of them have risen to the occasion.
"When we bring a guy up we think he's got an opportunity to come in here and excel," Blashill said. "If you look back, if you go back three, four years when there were some mounting injuries here in Detroit, and (Riley) Sheahan got called up and (Gustav) Nyquist got called up, it was a great opportunity for those young guys. So this is the same thing. It's a good opportunity for young guys to come in and make an impact on our team and we think we've got guys that can help us to be better."
The Wings might call up a player to take Abdelkader's roster spot, but Drew Miller is likely to take his place in the lineup.
