This afternoon, the Detroit Red Wings sent defenseman Justin Holl and forward Austin Watson down to Grand Rapids and the AHL. Because both have already cleared waivers and been sent to the Griffins within the last 30 days, they did not need to clear again to be sent down. The Red Wings do not play again until Thursday night, and there are essentially two paths forward as far as the NHL lineup is concerned.
The first possibility is that Christian Fischer and Jeff Petry (the former injured in Saturday night’s game, the latter in last week’s opener) both return to full health and are available for Thursday night’s game against the Rangers. In that case, Holl and Watson would simply remain in Grand Rapids for the short term.
The second possibility is that sending Holl and Watson down was simply a paper transaction, aimed at “cap accrual” by minimizing the day-to-day salary expenditure at the NHL level. In this scenario, Detroit could simply recall the duo to the NHL roster Thursday should they be necessary, allowing them to play in the evening’s game without their salaries factoring into the cap on days when they will not be needed.
It’s worth noting that a mixture of the two possibilities could wind up coming to fruition should one of Fischer or Petry but not both wind up available Thursday. It’s also possible that the original plan was for Option A but wind up at Option B because the two injured Red Wings require a bit more time than expected.
The Red Wings took a scheduled off day today, but coach Derek Lalonde should have an update on the health of Fischer and Petry, as well as their resulting plans, at tomorrow’s.
Watson played less than five minutes in last night’s game, so it’s hard to make much of his latest NHL sample, but in his two games in the NHL lineup, Holl looked very much at home. He was among Detroit’s steadiest defenseman over his two games in the lineup, and he plays a game that reflects the Red Wings’ ambitions: simple and defense first. Regardless of Petry’s health status moving forward or the precise roster/cap manipulation necessary to make it happen, Holl likely deserves a bit longer NHL run in the not too distant future.
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