Red Wings recall forward Givani Smith

The injury bug is starting to leave its mark on the Red Wings roster. Three regulars in Adam Erne, Luke Glendening, and Justin Abdelkader are all sidelined — the former being placed on IR earlier this week, the latter two getting hurt in Ottawa on Wednesday. Evgeny Svechnikov is already with the team, so its next man up; Givani Smith has been recalled from the Grand Rapids Griffins, the club announced Friday morning.

Smith was drafted by the Red Wings in 2016, 46th overall. The 21-year-old is now in his second pro season with Grand Rapids, so far recording 2 goals and 4 points in 4 games. A noted power-forward, Smith has been excellent in the first few games of the season. He’s everything a coach loves: Big and strong, goes to the front of the net, and plays with great aggression and effort each and every night. Now that he’s getting more adjusted to the pace of the AHL, those attributes are starting to become more noticeable.

Smith did, however, take that aggression too far, being assessed a one game suspension for clipping, on Tuesday.

Expected to make his NHL debut tonight against Buffalo, Smith is currently slotted in on the fourth line.