According to a new report, Detroit defenseman Jeff Petry is set to miss more than a month

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jeff Petry has been out injured since Jan. 2, and the team has declined to offer a clear timeline for his recovery.  Now, an update on that timeline has arrived, courtesy of Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, who reported via a Tweet that Petry will miss six to eight weeks, having undergone surgery.  (He does not specify whether that means six to eight weeks from the initial injury or six weeks on from the present.)

The one positive to come from Petry's injury has been the emergence of Albert Johansson.  Johansson saw his first action under new coach Todd McLellan after Petry went down, and in roughly a month since, he's played his best hockey of the season by a great distance.  Already, it seems difficult to imagine that Petry's eventual return to health will rotate Johansson back out of action.  (Instead, some combination of Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson are more likely to do so).

Petry's injury status also raises questions around the NHL Trade Deadline, just over a month away on March 7.  Already, Detroit is teetering on the edge between 'buyer' and 'seller,' and of course the team's play over the course over the month between now and then will go a long way toward conditioning the team's approach.  With that said, Petry's injury may alter the Red Wings' potential targets.  If he projects to miss something around the outer limit of Seravalli's reported estimate, perhaps the team would want to add another veteran defenseman heading into the stretch run.

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