DetroitRedWings.com’s Ethan Sears has broken down the battle for forward spots on the Red Wings’ roster heading into tomorrow’s game vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets (7 PM EDT start, no TV?/97.1 the Ticket), offering this post-Lucas Raymond-discussion take on the state of the forward corps:
Really, [Raymond’s status is] one of just a few questions swirling around what the 23-man squad will look like when the puck drops on Oct. 14 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Starting with Wednesday night’s affair against the Columbus Blue Jackets (7:00 p.m.), the Red Wings have just three preseason games left to find the answers.
Coming out of training camp, we had a pretty good idea of how the defense would shape up. Blashill said during camp that he planned to carry eight defensemen. Nick Leddy, Moritz Seider, Danny DeKeyser, Filip Hronek, Troy Stecher, Marc Staal, Gustav Lindstrom and Jordan Oesterle were the obvious players to fill those spots at the time, and nothing has happened to change that. Alex Nedeljkovic and Thomas Greiss were always going to be the two goaltenders on the roster barring injury.
That leaves 13 forwards – which is where things get complicated.
Blashill said before Monday night’s game that he wants the Red Wings to be “fairly close” to their Opening Night roster by Saturday’s preseason finale against the Buffalo Sabres. In a perfect world, things would have more clarity, but because of Jakub Vrana‘s shoulder surgery – which will keep him out for the season’s first four months – and Tyler Bertuzzi‘s ongoing recovery from back surgery, the Red Wings have questions as to what their top line will look like.
“Ultimately he’s gotta be ready for game 1 against Tampa,” Blashill said of Bertuzzi, later adding that he’s been cleared. “And there’s a lot of different ways you can get ready.”
