Injury Update: Larkin Set to Miss Two Weeks with Lower Body Injury
Per Derek Lalonde, Red Wings' captain Dylan Larkin is poised to miss roughly the next two weeks with a lower body injury at a critical juncture in Detroit's season
Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports - Injury Update: Larkin Set to Miss Two Weeks with Lower Body InjuryAt his post-practice media availability today at Little Caesars Arena, Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde delivered some sobering news: captain Dylan Larkin will miss "approximately two weeks" with a lower body injury picked up in Saturday's loss to the Panthers.
Per Lalonde, Detroit will have "better feel of his progress after the road trip" coming up this week. Lalonde also said that the team would be comfortable moving forward with the 12 healthy forwards and seven healthy defensemen on the roster presently or it could call someone up later in the week.
He went on to say that Larkin's absence represents a "big challenge for us," while pointing out "Everyone goes through injuries. We didn't handle it very well last time Dylan was out. We'll respond a little better this time around." Larkin missed four games in December after suffering an upper body injury against the Ottawa Senators. At the time, the impact of his absence was compounded by numerous other injuries and a suspension that overlapped with his time out out of the lineup.
"When Dylan was out last time, we were out two goalies, we were out J.T. Compher, we were out David Perron, so we've been fortunate with our depth all year long, and this will be tested again, and I'm confident in the group," Lalonde reminded the press today.
It's difficult to overstate just how important Larkin is to the Red Wings. As Lalonde put it today, "He's 1C. He's right down the middle...He's one of the only guys that plays in all three situations—five-on-five, penalty kill, and power play. He's a driver for us. These are the bumps. If we wanna stay in that battle, get over that line, we gotta fight through some of these things. And this is our opportunity on this road trip."
To that end, the injury comes at a critical moment in Detroit's season. The Red Wings are slated to play seven games over the next two weeks. First, it's a road trip with games at Colorado, Arizona, Vegas, and Buffalo (spanning Wednesday to next Tuesday); then Detroit will host the Coyotes next Thursday and the Sabres next Saturday before traveling to Pittsburgh for the second leg of a back-to-back the following day. The trade deadline will also come on Friday, and it's least worth wondering whether Larkin's injury might impact the team's plans there.
So, just as it seemed the Red Wings might be in the driver's seat to return to the postseason, fresh adversity has arrived, and Detroit will have to find a way to snap its present two-game skid without its captain and most important forward.
If there is some good news, it's that the timing of the injury and the schedule (two things that worked against the Red Wings during Larkin's last injury) allow for some extra practice time to allow the Larkin-less lineup to take shape before Detroit plays the Avalanche Wednesday.
At today's practice, Lalonde brought Joe Veleno up to Larkin's spot between Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat on the top line. Meanwhile, Klim Kostin—who hasn't played since February 15th in Vancouver—took reps on a new-look third line with Andrew Copp and Daniel Sprong. That left a second line of Michael Rasmussen, and Compher, Lucas Raymond and then a fourth line of Robby Fabbri, Christian Fischer, and Perron.
When asked whether the time leading into that game allows for a bit of an "on-ramp" to the new look lineup, Lalonde replied, "On-ramp, I like that, because there's some truth to it. One, we can adjust with our lines. We have a couple practice days. We get to work on special teams without Dylan, so, yeah, I think the two days is beneficial in this situation."