DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings will be without top defenseman Mike Green for three to five weeks due to a lower body injury, the team announced Friday.
Green, 33, leads all Red Wings players with an average time on ice of about 22 minutes. He has 3 goals and 13 assists through 23 games played this season. He had to miss the first nine games of the season due to health problems, and now he'll be about for another significant portion due to injury.
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Green just signed a two-year contact with Detroit in the offseason. He was considered a top unrestricted free agent at the end of this past season and many were surprised to see him stay with the Red Wings. But the team desperately needed some kind of anchor on the blue line so they were willing to keep him on for the right price.
This could be a big blow to the Red Wings who struggled massively out of the gate this season. Green's return to the lineup helped right the ship both defensively and offensively. He's also a major piece to the team's power play.
Rookie defenseman Filip Hronek, 21, gets the call-up from the AHL. He has appeared in six games with the Red Wings this season, scoring a goal and 2 assists with a -2 rating. Through 20 games with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins this season Hronek has scored 5 goals and 13 assists.
Meanwhile, Detroit is without one of its top goal scorers, Anthony Mantha, due to a hand injury. Mantha, 24, had 9 goals and 5 assists through 27 games played this season. He was injured in a game on Dec. 2 against the Colorado Avalanche.