Today, we learned about some roster updates through comments Jeff Blashill made to reporters.
First, the news that was not quite expected, but will make a good amount of fans happy:
#RedWings Blashill indicates they’re likely to keep Rasmussen long term. Not concerned about 10-game threshold that burns year off entry level deal. But doesn’t mean he’ll won’t go back to juniors later in season.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 23, 2018
So, Rasmussen will likely not be returned to juniors at the end of his 9 game period. The team had to make a decision soon, and it sounds like they are leaning towards keeping him up. If they are going to keep him past the ten game mark, it would make sense to keep him for the whole season.
On the defensive side, with veteran defensemen ready to return, Detroit sends Filip Hronek to Grand Rapids.
#RedWings have assigned defenseman Filip Hronek to @griffinshockey Blashill said Mike Green might return Friday and Danny DeKeyser (hand) Sunday possibly.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 23, 2018
DeKeyser being close to a return means we will likely see Joe Hicketts join Hronek in the near future, but that’s just an educated guess.
Lastly, the team could see what Jacob de la Rose, recently acquired off of waivers can bring to the team.
#RedWings Blashill said LW/C Jacob de la Rose still waiting on work visa. Could be ready in time for Thursday’s practice.
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 23, 2018
As much as I don’t like Hronek being sent to Grand Rapids, this was always in the cards when the veterans got healthy. Without the rash of injuries leading up to the season, it’s likely that only one rookie defenseman would have started the season with Detroit.
The news about Michael Rasmussen is more interesting to me because I wasn’t sure what direction they would go in. He has been playing better as of late, and it doesn’t seem to me like there’s much left for him to learn in juniors.
As for de la Rose, I’ll be interested to see what he can do, although I’m not holding out hope that it’ll make much of a difference. I’d like to be wrong, of course.
