Todd McLellan announces plan for Red Wings defenseman Jeff Petry
The Detroit Red Wings will have a decision to make when injured defenseman Jeff Petry is healthy enough to return to action, and Todd McLellan shed some light on what the plan is.
The Detroit Red Wings have been without defenseman Jeff Petry for the last several weeks, as he was hurt in their 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 2 and hasn't been able to play since.
In the meantime, the Red Wings have been playing rookie defenseman Albert Johansson in his stead, and he's improved his performance and looked less like a rookie with each passing game.
However, Petry is nearing a return to the ice as he continues to practice.
The Red Wings are about the embark on a critical 4-game road trip that will take them to Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle. What is the plan for Petry when he's able to play?
According to coach Todd McLellan, he's going to get ice time and that there will be discussions with the rest of the staff as to what those lines will look like.
The players' job is to make it really tough on the coaches to decide who comes and goes, and we expect them all to do that. We'll have some good, healthy discussions on who is in and out, but Pety's not there yet. So we're relying on what we have.
As far as the performance from Johansson, McLellan noted that he continues to be impressed and that he's making it harder to have to remove him from the lineup.
