An update from Derek Lalonde on injuries to Alex Lyon, Ville Husso, and Klim Kostin
Adding injury to insult in the team's third straight defeat, the Detroit Red Wings lost both Ville Husso and Klim Kostin to injury over the course of last night's 4-3 result at home against the Anaheim Ducks.
Dec 18, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings goaltender Ville Husso (35) talks with Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) during the first period against the Anaheim Ducks at Little Caesars Arena. Husso went down with a lower body injury late in the first period, and, this afternoon, coach Derek Lalonde described the Finnish back stop as "week-to-week."
Lalonde added that Alex Lyon—who had been unable to finish Saturday night's game in Philadelphia after an injury of his own—took part in his first workout since suffering that injury but the coach "does not see him as available for us until probably after Christmas."
With two injuries in the goaltending room, James Reimer is now the team's de facto starter in the coming days, while Detroit also announced that it had signed Michael Hutchinson—who has spent the season in Grand Rapids so far—to a two-way contract running through the remainder of the season.
In 13 games with the Griffins this season, Hutchinson is 5-7-1 with an .895 save percentage and 2.98 goals against average. He spent the bulk of last year in the AHL as well but also played in 16 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, going 2-6-3 with an uninspiring .877 SV% and 4.29 GAA.
Detroit plays at the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow, hosts Philadelphia Friday, then plays its final game before the league's Christmas break in New Jersey Saturday. Given that busy schedule and Lalonde's approximate timeline for Lyon, Hutchinson is poised to start one leg of the Friday-Saturday back-to-back.
Kostin, meanwhile, was forced to exit last night's game after a heavy collision with Radko Gudas in the second period. Lalonde described him also as "week-to-week" with an upper body injury, and Detroit has recalled Austin Czarnik from Grand Rapids as a short-term replacement.