Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman addressed a potential return timeline for Dylan Larkin, who missed Sunday evening's game and won't play on Tuesday.
Detroit Red Wings team captain Dylan Larkin was injured during Friday evening's contest against the Florida Panthers, going down to the ice awkwardly and twisting his knee.
He slowly made his way toward the bench while hunched over and wincing in pain, and did not return for the rest of the contest. He missed Detroit's subsequent game, a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday evening, and won't play in Tuesday evening's rematch against the Panthers in Florida.
The good news is that on Friday, head coach Todd McLellan said the team does not believe Dylan Larkin’s injury is serious and that he is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis.
That sentiment was echoed by general manager Steve Yzerman, who made a guest appearance on the Costa & Jansen with Heather show on 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday morning.
When host Mike Costa asked whether the team had a clearer idea of Larkin’s potential return timeline now that a few days had passed, Yzerman said the captain’s status continues to evolve as the team evaluates the ailment.
"It's a little bit of a moving target, still," Yzerman said of a potential return timeline for Larkin. "Kind of getting a feel for how he feels from day one of the injury, day two, day three; he won't play tonight, and the way we've done it is Todd obviously speaks with the media daily and gives updates, I think at some point in the next few days, we'll have a more clear picture of a potential return date for him and give everyone a better idea of exactly how long we anticipate him being out."
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Yzerman said that waiting for further evaluation of Larkin to gain a clearer picture of his potential return is the fairest approach for all parties involved.
"I think that's more fair for Dylan, more fair for Todd, and our fan base that's wondering, 'Hey, what's going on?' So, it's just been a bit of a moving target until the doctors can get a feel for where he's at and how he feels, and get a better idea for how long he'll be out."
With 28 goals and 27 assists in 63 games played so far this season, Larkin is third overall behind Lucas Raymond (65 points) and Alex DeBrincat (63 points) in total points amongst Red Wings players.
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