Injury Update from the Morning Skate

The carousel of injuries for the Red Wings continues, as an update was announced on Tuesday morning of where each of the four players currently out with injuries, stand with their damages.

As reported by Dana Wakiji both this morning and yesterday afternoon, Frans Nielsen will most likely be out for just a short while more. The forward has not yet been cleared to practice because of the concussion protocol.

For Athanasiou, he is currently participating in today’s morning skate, but will not make his return tonight. Most likely, he will be back in on Friday when the Wings face the New York Rangers.

Defenceman Jonathan Ericsson is still out for the time being, but he might be nearing a return and is currently listed as day-to-day by Blashill.

Veteran Thomas Vanek is out for the time being. Earlier in the week, it was updated that the forward will be out for 2-4 weeks with an injury. Hopefully, he will be nearing a return and will continue the mini hot streak he had going on before his injury. The Austrian winger had four points in the last five games he played for the Wings.

With Nielsen, Athanasiou, and Ericsson nearing a return, there will most likely be some players returning to Grand Rapids for the time being. Wade Megan is the obvious choice and Luke Witkowski will probably return to being a healthy scratch.

On the blueline, it gets a little more interesting. There has yet to be a point in the season where every Wings defenceman is healthy, so there is bound to be some interesting moves. Nick Jensen was the defenceman that had the lowest TOI against the Oilers, so my guess is he will be the one to sit.