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Wings place Kindl on waivers |
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Jakub Kindl’s days as a Detroit Red Wing would appear to be at an end.
With Kyle Quincey on the brink of returning from ankle surgery, Saturday the Wings moved to make a spot for Quincey by placing Kindl on waivers.
If Kindl clears waivers at noon Sunday, he then would almost certainly be assigned to Detroit’s American Hockey League farm club in Grand Rapids because the Wings must open up salary cap space to activate Quincey from injured reserve.
“We’re going through the manoeuvres we’re going to have to go through to position ourselves (to be able to activate Quincey),” Detroit general manager Ken Holland said.
One thing is certain – Quincey won’t play Sunday when the Wings are in Anaheim to face the Ducks, so if Kindl goes unclaimed no roster moves will be made until after Sunday’s game to guard against potential injuries in that contest.
Quincey is slated to return to the ice Monday when the Wings are in Los Angeles to face the Kings.
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill sought to make it clear that it was nothing Kindl did or didn’t do that made him the odd man out.
“I don’t know if it was anything missing to be honest with you,” Blashill said. “There are so many players that are so close and I think he’s one of them.
“As we made decisions in the lineup sometimes it’s fit. Sometimes it might be what he brings to the table, power play, penalty kill, edge, passer, so we made decisions through the first part of the season where ultimately we had other guys slotted in ahead of him.
“I don’t think it’s really because he’s missing much. I think he’s an NHL player. I think we have a bunch of guys who are really close and he was just the odd man out.
Entering the season No. 7 on the depth chart, Kindl was surpassed by rookie Alexey Marchenko and it speaks to how consistently Marchenko has performed that even though the Wings could have sent him to Grand Rapids without clearing waivers, they instead opted to keep Marchenko up with the big club and risk losing Kindl for the waiver price.
“I think Marchy’s played good, but to Jakub’s credit when he went in he played pretty good too,” Blashill said. “I think we’re talking about minuscule differences and ultimately as a coach you have to make those hard decisions on what guys are going to give you the best chance to win.
“I don’t think that’s a negative to the person that’s not in. When I got the job I said we were blessed with depth of NHL defensemen and that meant someone in a numbers game has to be out and Jakub is out.”
While sad to see their friend and teammate on the move, the Wings players also accept such transactions as part of their job description.
“Obviously yesterday when he told the guys it was hard,” captain Henrik Zetterberg admitted. “But that’s the way the business is now and hopefully he gets picked up and can go and play somewhere else.”
Ride The Hot Hand
The Wings will stay with the same forward lines and defense pairings that beat San Jose and will also give Petr Mrazek a fifth straight start in goal.
“He’s been really solid and probably a big reason why we won the last three,” Zetterberg said of Mrazek. “Just the last game, the save he made, and then we take the puck 200 feet and score.
“So he’s been really good and gives us confidence, and it’s a little easier to play in front of him.”
Jimmy Howard is slated to return to the net Monday against the Kings.
Hirschfeld OK
The Wings who played alongside Alden Hirschfeld in Grand Rapids were happy to hear the Detroit farmhand was feeling better after collapsing on the bench during Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Admirals.
Hirschfeld suffered a medical incident with 6:19 remaining in the second period. After being attended to by paramedics and Griffins medical and training staffs, he was transported to a local hospital in stable condition for further evaluation.
“I was part of that staff that recruited Alden to Miami,” said Blashill, who also coached Hirschfeld in Grand Rapids. “I know him very well.
“I was following Twitter and saw there was a huge concern with something happening on the bench. When it came to Hirsh I knew he had some history of that going back to our camp two years ago.
“I texted with him last night. He seems like he’s fine. It’s something he’ll have to deal with. It’s a medical condition, so he’ll meet with his doctors.
“I’m certainly glad he’s fine.
Hirschfeld is currently resting with his family at his Toledo, Ohio home.
“I’m feeling good,” Hirschfeld said in a statement released by the team. “Obviously it was unfortunate what happened, but those are things that life brings and you’ve got to learn to deal with them.
“I’m super thankful for all the kind words and thoughts and prayers from the fans, and especially the efforts of the paramedics, doctors and (Griffins athletic trainer) John Bernal. It was great to have my parents, my wife and daughter there to be with me.
“I’m feeling good, obviously trying to just recover and take it easy for a couple days here, get some further evaluations from the doctors and then go from there. But hopefully I’ll be back on the ice very shortly and contributing to help whatever team I’m playing for win.”
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