The Detroit Red Wings have brought up another forward from the minors under emergency conditions.
The Wings (30-27-9) next play Tuesday at the Nashville Predators. Monday was a day off, after playing back-to-back games wit the Boston Bruins over the weekend.
Given Luff was brought up as an emergency — meaning he doesn’t count as a regular call-up — it appears the Wings are uncertain about one of the 12 forwards they have on the roster. The only spare body they have is a defenseman, and so far coach Derek Lalonde has resisted dressing 11 forwards and seven defenseman for a game.
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Luff, 25, scored a goal Nov. 6 when the Wings beat the Rangers in New York. The 6-foot-3, 212-pound winger has seven goals and 16 assists in 25 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
He’s the second Griffins player to be called up, joining Austin Czarnik, who was brought up March 10, also under emergency conditions, when Robby Fabbri went down with a lower-body injury.
The Wings’ forward group took a hit at the trade deadline, when general manager Steve Yzerman flipped Tyler Bertuzzi, Oskar Sundqvist and Jakub Vrana for draft picks. The Wings also brought in newcomer Alex Chiasson, a 32-year-old veteran of more than 600 NHL games who has been a nice fit, scoring two power play goals and adding two assists in five games.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ailing Detroit Red Wings recall Matt Luff under emergency conditions
