Expect a new face in the lineup for the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. Forward Joakim Andersson is set to make his NHL debut against the St. Louis Blues. According to Ansar Khan, Andersson was recalled on Tuesday from the Grand Rapids Griffins to take the spot in the lineup of Tomas Holmstrom. To explain the move, head coach Mike Babcock had this to say:
He's bigger than those guys (Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist). I don't know if he can do it, but we like this type of player (for tonight). Sometimes you need some apples and sometimes you need oranges.'
Andersson has eight goals and nine assists in 29 games with Grand Rapids. He'll play wing on the bottom line with Cory Emmerton and Justin Abdelkader. He also had a plus-1 rating and 16 penalty minutes with the Griffins. He'll come in and look to be a bigger body and help the Red Wings establish that kind of presence to maintain their streak of 10-straight at the Joe Louis Arena, while trying to launch them on a winning streak overall after a win in their last outing.
Holmstrom is set to be out a week to 10 days, according to Khan on Twitter. Andersson could fill his spot the whole time, but the Red Wings have shown they're not adverse to making immediate changes if needed, so he need to have a good game right out of the gate.