The Red Wings are missing some key pieces to the puzzle, and trying to nail down return dates is near to impossible. Abdelkader (knee) remains a minimum of one week away from being cleared for action, Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports.
Among injured Red Wings, don't see Mike Green on ice (he practiced in Toronto) but Darren Helm & Justin Abdelkader out there.
— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) January 3, 2017
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Source: Red Wings still waiting on key injured players Green, Helm, Abdelkader
Green has not played since aggravating an upper-body on Dec.17 at home against the Ducks. The team’s top-scoring defenseman participated in practice Saturday at Toronto, but did not practice Tuesday.
Coach Jeff Blashill said Green “will practice with us this week,” but that won’t amount to more than a morning skate as the Wings play three times the next four days.
While the Wings look to right the ship, they are going to have to wait for a few key players. In the meantime, they are looking to shake things up with an unconventional look at the power-play.
Steve Ott practiced on one unit Tuesday at Honda Center. Andreas Athanasiou joined the other unit, which consisted of five forwards.
Coach Jeff Blashill said he wanted to evaluate in practice and didn’t commit to using them Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks (10:30 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit) in the start of three-game California trip.
