Nedeljkovic Not With the Red Wings, But Hasn’t Really Left

Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is not with the Detroit Red Wings and is still with the Red Wings. Both facts are true.

Nedeljkovic’s emergency recall is over. He’s not on Detroit’s roster, but practiced again Friday with the Red Wings. There’s no reason for Nedeljkovic to hurry back to Grand Rapids because the Griffins are in Manitoba playing again tonight against the Moose.

But his extended stay is about the Red Wings wanting to make sure Ville Husso is fully recovered from his lower body injury.

“Ville will be back in tomorrow (against the Pittsburgh Penguins),”  Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “He’s been responding fairly well to that lower-body injury.”

Alex Nedeljkovic still here despite not officially on roster. He’ll probably play in one or two of the remaining games as an emergency recall. #RedWings pic.twitter.com/hHA9Ivo0wt

— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) April 7, 2023

That would seem to indicate that Nedeljkovic can rejoin the Griffins this weekend when they return from their Manitoba trip. The Griffins’ next game after tonight would be Monday in Cleveland.

But the Red Wings have back-to-back games Monday (at home vs. Dallas) and Tuesday (at Carolina). Is that reason enough to keep Nedeljkovic around as a just-in-case move?

Edvinsson Will Play 2 More Games

After Lalonde confirmed Husso will play against the Penguins Saturday, he was asked whether Husso would then play two of the team’s last three.

“Pretty much a day to day type of thing,” Lalonde said. “We won’t play him on the back to back, so we’ll figure that out. See how his lower body responds but it’s back to back, those are some issues he’s had in the past.”

The Red Wings are definite about how many more games defenseman Simon Edvinsson will play. He has played seven and he will only play two more because the 10th game would mean the first season of his entry contract would be counted. The Red Wings clearly don’t want that to occur.

“He’ll be in tomorrow and then we’ll see where he gets that last game,” Lalonde said. “It might make sense to give him the home games and go from there.”