Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said the club won’t call up anyone from Grand Rapids to replace recently-injured forward Pavel Datsyuk.
For now, there aren’t plans to call up anyone from the minors. Defenseman Jakub Kindl finished his conditioning stint Thursday and will rejoin the team Sunday, when it starts a stretch of three games in four nights. The Wings have the salary-cap room to call up a forward if needed and can clear considerable cap space should they put Datsyuk on long-term injured reserve.
Datsyuk has “wee little breaks” at the top of his right hand, but Holland reported that the bone itself is still intact and did not break completely. Datsyuk will be out at least four weeks, possibly as long as six weeks.
The team already has 12 forwards to complete their four regular lines, unlike last season when a slew of injuries made the team look more like the Grand Rapids Red Wings. Holland also announced center Mike Modano is right on schedule in his recovery from a severed tendon in his right wrist, but he’s still out until at least March.
Hopefully the team can avoid further damage until Datsyuk is ready to come back. With a hard worker like Datsyuk it is possible—I stress possible—he could come back slightly earlier if the injury heals quickly. Of course, that’s just my wishful thinking.