The follow up injury news on Red Wings rookie Nate Danielson carries more optimism than initial reports.
“He’s skating, so that’s good,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “I don’t have a timeline yet. I haven’t heard that. But the fact that he put the equipment on and went and skated, it’s a good sign.”
A quick return has roster implications because Danielson is among the team’s most impressive rookies.
“I think a guy like (Danielson), in my opinion, from what I saw, would have had an outstanding opportunity to make the team,” McLellan said. “And probably doesn’t want to hear me saying that, but yet I think he does. We need to get him healthy because I think he could play here, but that changes things. All of a sudden… somebody else gets another lifeline, but they need to take advantage of it.”
Danielson suffered an undisclosed injury in last Saturday’s loss at Buffalo.
Meanwhile, James van Riemsdyk is expected to arrive in training camp for the first time Wednesday. He was given permission for a late arrival to deal with a family matter. Getting the summer free agent signee in camp is important because he’s one of the candidates to play on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond.
Finnie Also a Candidate
His absence has opened the door wider for rookie Emmitt Finnie and Elmer Soderblom to compete for the spot on the top line.
Van Riemsdyk, 36, will have to clear his medical evaluation before he can practice.
“We practice a little bit later and if we can get it all set up, I hope that he’s on the ice tomorrow,” McLellan said. “Now we got to get him up to speed and I don’t know how much he’s been skating. We’ll have to be aware of groins, hip flexors, all that type of stuff that tend to go wrong early in the year with players, but we’ll get them going.”