The Red Wings and their fans are still reeling after being shut out by the NHL-worst Toronto Maple Leafs, and with a very crucial road trip looming and Niklas Kronwall still on the shelf, the team needed to call up in case someone else got injured.
It was naturally assumed that the Wings would call up a defenseman to take Kronwall’s place, but the Wings threw us all a curveball and announced that they were bringing up a forward instead:
The #RedWings have called up Anthony Mantha. Should he be next to make his @NHL debut, he’ll be the 900th all-time player in club history.
— The Wheel Deal (@Bill_Roose) March 14, 2016
It’s a surprise that the Wings opted to call up Mantha, who has been good for the Griffins this year after a slow start, instead of a defenseman. There has been no word of any injuries among the forwards, although Pavel Datsyuk did miss a portion of last night’s game with a lower body injury while Darren Helm sat out with the flu. Without another move the Wings will be taking 6 defensemen on the trip to Philadelphia, Columbus and Florida. Mantha is a 20-goal scorer for the Griffins and might be seen as a potential catalyst for an offense that desperately needs to get going if the Wings are going to make the playoffs. It will be interesting to see where Mantha slots in the lineup, because it doesn’t make sense for them to call him up to be a healthy scratch.
UPDATE: Per the Wings, no one is injured and Mantha will be in the lineup on Tuesday against the Flyers
#RedWings said they have no new injuries and Mantha will play tomorrow.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) March 14, 2016
