Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman discussed the offseason injury recoveries of Dylan Larkin, Simon Edvinsson, Ville Husso and Alex Lyon at Friday's pre-draft media availability

The Detroit Red Wings aren’t fully healthy right now, but they’ve got plenty of time this summer to heal up.

At his media availability ahead of next Friday’s NHL Draft, Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman gave updates on the health of four Red Wings: forward Dylan Larkin, defenseman Simon Edvinsson and goaltenders Alex Lyon and Ville Husso. He expects all four of them to be ready for training camp this fall.

The grueling nature of an NHL season causes a whole lot of wear and tear for players, something they finally have time and space to address when the offseason starts. In Larkin’s case, he almost delayed that offseason to suit up for Team USA at the IIHF Men’s World Championship, but an upper body injury from the regular season held him out and forced a surgery. Larkin had previously gone through upper and lower body injuries in the regular season that held him out of 14 games.

“At the end of the season we do all of our testing and they get whatever scans and X rays and things, and (Larkin) he had to address that (upper body injury) with — I don't want to call a minor surgery — but he had to have surgery.” Yzerman said. “His training, I don't believe he's skating or shooting pucks yet, but I expect him to be 100% and ready to go for training camp.”

It was at that same World Championship where Lyon sustained a cut on his finger during a net-front scrum. The injury sent him home from the tournament early, causing a bigger role for Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine and former Detroit goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.

Since Lyon hurt his finger, Yzerman said that he has healed, though Lyon might have suffered some tendon damage.

“I think there might have been some minor laceration to one of the tendons,” Yzerman said. “But nothing that required surgery and (it) will heal fine.”

Lyon’s injury, however minor, was concerning given the uncertainty of Detroit’s goaltending depth next season. After sustaining two separate lower body injuries and tweaking one of them again in a late-season conditioning stint, Husso entered the offseason with a focus on getting healthy for next season. Given the expected difficulty of his recovery process and the recurrence of injuries, outside observers questioned Husso’s ability to play a meaningful role in a goaltending tandem next season. Asked about the goalie room, Yzerman doesn’t share those concerns. He said he also expects Husso to be ready at training camp.

“I can't predict future injuries. We're hopeful that he's healthy,” Yzerman said. “... Ville’s season was kind of a write off just due to injury and we can't be overly critical that it happened, you know. Ville doesn’t like it, we don’t like it, but it happens. So we're hoping he rebounds, and when he's been healthy, he's been good for us.”

There’s a difference between healthy and contributing, and Husso’s continued injury troubles cast fair doubt on where his status will be in the fall. But as Yzerman noted, any future injury history can’t be predicted. As much as Detroit will seek a third goaltender to strengthen the group, the Red Wings are nonetheless anticipating Husso’s extended return.

As for Edvinsson, the defenseman missed games in the Grand Rapids Griffins’ Calder Cup playoff run, including their Game 5 loss in the second round to Milwaukee. Yzerman dismissed any worry about his status.

“(Edvinsson) was fine,” Yzerman said. “He left pretty quickly after to go home and there were no issues.”

Edvinsson’s health is a relief for Detroit’s blue line, as the 2021 first round pick is projected to play his first full season with the Red Wings and could even factor into the top four where he played in a 14-game call-up to end last season. Yzerman said he expects Edvinsson to play on the penalty kill and possibly the power play depending on roster changes. Full health will make that process much easier for Edvinsson.

Positive news on the injury front means the Red Wings should be better prepared for the season. As the summer gives them time to heal, Detroit should be at full strength next season.

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