Red Wings midday updates: The Glendening Experiment begins, Kronwall gets some rest

With their second day off in a row, the Red Wings hit the ice this morning in preparation for the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow at the Joe Louis Arena. Red Wings fans got some interesting updates from the beat, which included Vanek updates, and a reassembled lineup:

Wait a tick, Luke Glendening 2nd line winger? Uh, what? After a few moments of upset, and freak-out, fans learned that Jeff Blashill is essentially experimenting with this lineup change:

So basically, Blashill is trying to add some edge to the top-six, acquiring those “dirty goals” that he has been so very hung up on. I doubt The Glendening Experiment lasts very long. Another note: It sounds like Steve Ott will be a healthy scratch tomorrow night, as well as Niklas Kronwall, who will get some of that nice “old man” rest.. It sounds as if Ryan Sproul may be the most likely candidate to replace him:

On the injury front, Thomas Vanek’s return is imminent, though the backdating of his LTIR seems to have been reported incorrectly:

The Red Wings are now expecting Vanek to return on Sunday, but we were under the impression that he would be ready for Friday against Washington. Regardless, the Red Wings will be making some roster shifts to clear up space to bring him off of LTIR. Tyler Bertuzzi’s cap hit alone won’t do it, so you can bet that Anthony Mantha is Grand Rapids bound, barring some strange turn of events.

In other minor news, Tomas Jurco continues to skate with the team, but his return doesn’t appear to be anytime soon. Hopefully by the time he is ready to make his return, the Red Wings will have some sort of plan that doesn’t cost them losing a player.

The Wings will play the Tampa Bay Lighting at the Joe tomorrow night. Puck drop is at 7:30 pm ET, you can watch the game on Fox Sports Detroit, or stream from the Fox Sports Go app on your mobile device.