Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:
- The Free Press’s Helene St. James took note of Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s comments regarding the team’s decision to waive and demote Ville Husso…
“Tough conversation, always,” coach Derek Lalonde told the Free Press after the Wings’ morning skate at Madison Square Garden. “It is a business, you’re managing your roster. It was very similar to what I did with Justin [Holl] – we haven’t given up on you. We asked Justin to be ready; literally 24 hours later, he was in our lineup. We haven’t given up on Ville. He might see the net again here soon.”
Waiving Husso freed up a roster spot needed to flesh out the lineup after it sustained two injuries in the first two games. First, it was defenseman Jeff Petry who was unable to finish the 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins because of an upper-body injury; then it was forward Christian Fischer, also because of an upper-body injury, who didn’t finish the 3-0 victory over the Nashville Predators.
Neither player is ailing to the point of needing to be put on injured reserve, which means they still count against the 23-man roster. The Wings reached the limit Saturday when they called up Holl just days after he had cleared waivers and been sent to the minors. With the possibility that Fischer is available as soon as Thursday, the Wings opted not to call up 2022 first-round pick Marco Kasper, who had an outstanding camp.
“The mentality is, if Kasper is coming, it’s probably more of a long-term scenario,” Lalonde said. “This is potentially a short-term scenario.”
2. And the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan’s afternoon notebook includes a conversation with Justin Holl regarding Holl’s status as having been waived last week:
It was a bit of shock to land on waivers.
“Little bit,” Holl said. “But when you’re looking at it and you kind of understand. We have a couple of guys who are waiver eligible, and as you try to read the tea leaves a little bit you think it’s possible. But it’s still a little bit shocking.”
The intricacies of the salary cap are likely lost on most players. But as the years go on, most veterans begin to absorb some details and knowledge of it, understanding their careers might be affected somehow.
“There are different situations you find yourself in and this will be a good example,” Holl said. “Throughout the years, when someone else is a cap casualty, you’re like, ‘Wow’ but you kind of understand there are different things behind the scenes that need to be done.”
For now, Holl is obviously a Red Wing. But for how long, who knows? And what after that, what with a family and not knowing exactly what the future holds?
“All I can do is play as well as I can and the rest is out of my control,” Holl said. “As hard as that is, that’s how you have to approach it.”
