Zadina out 2-3 weeks, Athanasiou returns

Mixed emotions were felt today following the Red Wings practice. Head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed that rookie winger Filip Zadina will miss the next 2-3 weeks with a lower-body injury. Zadina sustained the injury on Friday and attempted to play through it on Saturday. The end result is not pleasing.

Zadina over the past few weeks has been battling something. During the bye week when the Red Wings assigned multiple young players to Grand Rapids, Zadina sat out the Griffins game on Jan. 25 for precautionary reasons. The night before he registered two goals and three points.

Possibly contributing to the injury came on the play below. Zadina skated off in obvious discomfort after taking this point shot to the ankle.

The time could not be any worse. The No. 6 pick from 2018 has finally been finding his stride on the top-line with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi. His three point performance in the one-game return to the AHL was further indication he is now an NHL player. Through 28 games this season, he has produced eight goals and 15 points.

But the silver lining here is Andreas Athanasiou is finally back from his three week long injury. Athanasiou will replace Zadina on the top-line and presumably on the powerplay. The extra opportunity should get Athanasiou going, having struggled at times this season. The Red Wings are hoping he can return back to his 30-goal form from 2018-19.