Red Wings lose veteran defenseman for the rest of the year
Photo credit: The Detroit News
This won't do anything to aid the Red Wings playoff hopes, as defenseman Erik Gustafsson is expected to be out long term due to an injury.
The Detroit Red Wings are facing a considerable challenge in their quest to try and return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 1st time since 2016.
And while they already have a tough test ahead of them with literally the hardest scheduled of all 32 NHL clubs to finish the year based on their opposition's winning percentage, they were just dealt another blow.
Offensive-minded defenseman Erik Gustafsson is expected to miss the rest of the year, according to Todd McLellan.
Via Ansar Khan of MLive:
McLellan: Gustafsson out long term, won't return until near end of season. Soderblom out tomorrow but might play on trip. Petry also might return in one of final two games of trip. Declined to reveal starting goalie tomorrow but said Lyon will dress.
The loss of Gustafsson is especially damaging considering that the Red Wings decided to trade Jake Walman away during the summer (along with a 2nd round pick) in exchange for literally nothing.
Additionally, the Red Wings chose not to give Shayne Gostisbehere the term he was looking for; he signed for 3 years with the Carolina Hurricanes and helped them beat the Red Wings twice so far.
As if that weren't enough, Yzerman also traded veteran defenseman Olli Maatta to the Utah Hockey Club back in October.
Gustafsson was playing in his 1st year with the Red Wings, and had 18 points (2G, 16A) in 60 games played; he also averaged 16:18 of ice time per game.
| POLL | ||
MARS 21 | 222 ANSWERS Red Wings lose veteran defenseman for the rest of the year Did Steve Yzerman make a mistake by trading Olli Maatta to the Utah Hockey Club? | ||
| Yes | 135 | 60.8 % |
| No | 87 | 39.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
