Halfway through the Red Wings four game road trip after the trade deadline, the team finds itself missing a third of the their top six. Detroit's head coach Todd McLellan updated reporters today that the team will be without their first and and second-line centers for the foreseeable future.
Thems the breaks
Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin left the team's last home game after suffering a non contact injury to his lower leg, and in their rematch with the Florida Panthers four days later Andrew Copp had to be assisted off-ice after getting caught up in the face-off in another player's stick. Both games were regulation losses for the team, with the second especially stinging as the team had led through much of the game before faltering in the final period. Without their top centers, the lines have been shifted around, with J.T. Compher manning the top line between Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat, and Marco Kasper centering a second line of Emmitt Finnie and Lucas Raymond.
The Red Wings did acquire David Perron at the trade deadline, and the 37-year old veteran has played center for the team in a previous outing. However, Perron is still recovering from a sports hernia injury, and at the trade deadline, general manager Steve Yzerman indicated that Perron was expected to be out for around two more weeks. That now lines up for when the team will most likely give their next update on Larkin and Copp, as McLellan has stated that the pair will be out for "at least two weeks."
Showtime (not that one)
With the Red Wings now carrying three injured forwards on their roster, they have recalled more players from the Grand Rapids Griffins. Sheldon Dries, John Leonard, and Eduards Tralmaks have all been brought up to the Red Wings roster. Dries and Leonard have been called up for the Red Wings previously this season, with Leonard playing nine of ten games before he becomes subject to waivers.
Tralmaks, meanwhile, may have the least experienced resume in North American play, but the Latvian forward was the Red Wings' organization's leading goal scorer at the 2026 Olympics. Representing Team Latvia, Tralmaks was one of four players sent by Detroit and Grand Rapids to Milan and finished the Olympic tourney with three goals and an assist. Tralmaks could very well make his debut in a Red Wings uniform, as the team may not want to expose John Leonard to other teams by having him play another game.
The team has already burned the first year of rookie Micheal Brandsegg-Nygard's rookie contract after he debuted on the roster and later was sent down to Grand Rapids. The Griffins, down what seems to be half their forward roster, are one of the best teams in the AHL, and are being backstopped by top Red Wings goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa.
The Griffins have already secured a playoff berth in the American League, now it's time to see if they can rub some of that magic off on their Red Wings teammates during this call-up period to get into the National League's dance.
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