Ericsson will miss six-to-eight Weeks with Fractured Wrist

The Red Wings will be without veteran defenseman Jonathan Ericsson for at least six weeks because of a fractured wrist. 

Ericsson suffered the injury late in the first period of Thursday’s loss in Washington. Ericsson was hurt after being hit from behind by Capitals’ centre Nicklas Backstrom, who was given a two-minute boarding penalty on the play. 

If Ericsson misses six weeks, he would be back around March 24th which means he would be back for the final 10 games of the season, but eight weeks could see him miss the rest of the regular season. Losing Ericsson leaves the Red Wings to fill 19:13 TOI/GP including 2:03 TOI on the penalty kill—second among active Red Wings’ defensemen. 

Ericsson has picked up just nine points (1G / 8A) in 51 games, so they won’t miss his lack of offence and his injury will allow Ryan Sproul to remain in the lineup for the foreseeable future. Sproul is one of the few defensemen on the active roster capable of producing offence and had a solid night in his return to the lineup vs. the Capitals. With Ericsson out this also means that Xavier Ouellet will draw back into the lineup on Saturday. 

Ericsson has only missed 11 games over the last three seasons and this injury will give the coaching staff and management to take a look at what this blueline will look without Ericsson—something fans have been clamouring for for years. Ericsson has the second worst CorsiFor% (46.49) and third worst CorsiFor% Relative to the Red Wings (-2.04) among Detroit blueliners. 

Niklas Kronwall will likely replace Ericsson on Saturday after missing the last three games with a lower-body injury. Their blueline should look something like this: