Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan provided an injury update during a press conference on Monday afternoon.
On Monday, Detroit Red Wings Head Coach Todd McLellan provided an injury update when speaking to the media in the afternoon ahead of their preseason matchup versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Some notable names that are already listed as not available for the time being are defenseman Simon Edvinsson with a lower-body injury and winger James van Riemsdyk, who has been dealing with a family issue. A new addition to the list that wasn’t expected was top prospect Nate Danielson, who suffered an undisclosed injury in a recent preseason game.
McLellan started his press conference by talking about Edvinsson and how he practiced on Monday but not at full capacity. Despite this, McLellan still believes the breakout blueliner from last season will be back in the lineup for opening night.
"We'll see how his practice went today, he was fully involved, It wasn't a pregame stake, a lot of walk-through, not a lot of action,” McLellan explained “Obviously I'm not out there to see it, but we'll get an update, he's getting close opening night, I don't see any reason why he isn't playing, and we'll make smart decisions with him this week.”
He continued by confirming Edvinsson won’t be in the lineup for Monday’s matchup versus the Penguins and Tuesday’s exhibition game on the road versus the Blackhawks. The 22-year-old Swedish defenseman hasn’t been ruled out for Detroit’s final two preseason games against the Toronto Maple Leafs but the team will likely hold him out until they believe he is feeling fully healthy. Edvinsson is coming off a solid rookie season with seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points while carrying an average ice-time of 21:07 through 78 games.
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For van Riemsdyk, it sounds like the 36-year-old veteran may not be ready in time for the start of the regular season as he still hasn’t joined the team yet after taking a leave of absence to deal with a family matter and will take time to adjust to the new system in Detroit.
"He needs to be here as soon as he can be but again, we're not on the phone saying, hey, drop what you're doing, because that's not what this is about,” McLellan said “So can he be ready to play on in game one, even based on today, I don't know until he gets here and then we got to get him caught up, and we got to get him skating so, you know, he's going to be part of our team, just whether he can play right off the bat or not but that's okay, we'll deal with him."
After a solid 36-point campaign last season with the Columbus Blue Jackets, van Riemsdyk was brought in by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman with the hopes that he would add some much needed scoring depth into the bottom six of the lineup. The New Jersey native is a reliable source for points since hitting the back half of his career with 99 goals and 125 assists for 224 points in 407 games since turning 30 years old. His 0.55 point-per-game average over this span projects out to roughly 40 points over 71 games, which he has played in each of the last two seasons.
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Danielson was a surprising addition to the injury report as many were expecting the 21-year-old center to continue battling for a main roster spot but McLellan explained that he suffered an injury in a preseason game, potentially versus Buffalo.
“Nate Danielson got injured in Buffalo the other night and he'll be out for a little bit,” McLellan commented “I don't have a time frame whether it's long or short term, but we'll figure that part out over the next few days."
McLellan seemed uncertain when he said the injury occurred during a game against Buffalo, likely because the team played the Sabres last Thursday, then faced the Penguins on Friday. Danielson did not play in Saturday’s preseason rematch against Buffalo, suggesting he may have been injured earlier and tried to play through it on Friday before ultimately sitting out. He logged 19 minutes of ice time and recorded an assist against Pittsburgh, indicating he was playing a significant role, likely too demanding for someone merely testing an injury.
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