Coming out of preseason the Red Wings were hit hard with the injury bug. Four regular blue-liners were out, which is why four rookies got some action with the big club.

Progressively, they are getting healthier, with veteran defensemen Jonathan Ericsson expected to make his season debut Saturday night against the Florida Panthers. This move will likely push Danny Dekeyser to the injury-reserve list to leave room on the roster for the youngsters.

The Karlskrona, Sweden native put up 13 points in 81 games last season. Although fans have been clamoring to decrease his role, he has averaged over 19 minutes per game for the last two seasons. With Dekeyser and Mike Green both out, Ericsson’s veteran presence will be relied upon as the Wings try to develop Dennis Choloswki, Filip Hronek, and Joe Hicketts.

The other move today was sending down Brian Lashoff to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Lashoff was previously on the non-roster injury reserve. The Griffins have been off to a bumpy start, starting the year off with just one win in their first 5 games. The addition of Lashoff and Libor Sulak, who was sent down on Wednesday, will help stabilize the team and hopefully spark a turn-around.