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Lilja Going On LTIR
by Paul on 09/13/09 at 06:25 PM ET
Comments (12)
from Ansar Khan of Mlive,
General manager Ken Holland confirmed that defenseman Andreas Lilja will start the season on long-term injured reserve. Lilja, who hasn’t been cleared for contact due to headaches and concussion-like symptoms, isn’t even allowed to skate with the team in practices. Lilja said he hopes to skate on his own Monday.
Lilja on IR puts the Wings under the salary cap, so there’s no need to trade a defenseman for the time being.
“Lils has had a setback,’’ Babcock said. “It doesn’t look to me like he’s in the picture at all.’’
more from the Wings first day of training camp in Traverse City.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Andreas+Lilja,
Comments
I just want this off season to be over.
Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste. Marie on 09/13/09 at 05:38 PM ET
Rough start for goaltender Jimmy Howard, who gave up three goals on 15 shots.
I’m just sayin’
Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste. Marie on 09/13/09 at 05:41 PM ET
The worst news of that report from Khaaaan had to be Williams getting time on the point with the 2nd power play unit.
YARGH!
Posted by HockeyJoe from Upstate New York on 09/13/09 at 07:08 PM ET
lilja over ericsson, really? wow.
Posted by drw from detroit on 09/13/09 at 09:05 PM ET
I’d take Ericsson over Lilja.
Especially a Lilja who’s taken over 6 months to recover from a concussion. That’s a huge yield sign. And especially over a Lilja who would force us to send down/waive multiple players to fit under the cap.
Posted by Garth on 09/13/09 at 09:19 PM ET
Don’t worry guys, in my dream scenario, Lilja is paired with Ericsson, not playing instead of him. Ericsson will one day be better than Lilja, he’s not there yet. Andreas is an excellent PK quarterback and the best shot blocker on the team. Bottom line is that I think that Ericsson could learn a bit from Lilja about using his size.
As far as the Lilja that’s been out for six months with headaches… yeah, I agree with you Garth. It’s a worry and the reason I made sure to say “a healthy Lilja”.
Bottom line is that a healthy Lilja isn’t stealing a roster spot from Ericsson. He’s taking the #5 spot, Ericsson is #6 and Lebda and Meech are the odd men out. Argue the cap for what it’s worth, but tell me that those two wouldn’t be your third pair defensemen…
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 09/13/09 at 10:04 PM ET
Argue the cap for what it’s worth, but tell me that those two wouldn’t be your third pair defensemen…
Well that’s the problem. In a world where we could have them both AND have a 7th defenseman and 13th forward to cover injuries, that would DEFINITELY be my third pairing.
As crass as this might sound, I kind of hope Lilja doesn’t play at all this season, because I think next season we could probably HAVE that pairing as do-able while still being able to dress a full team day-in, day-out.
I like Lilja a lot, but with our precarious cap position I’m really worried about him dressing, because if he does and we have to get rid of one or more roster players to fit him in, what happens if he has some kind of set back, or turns into Eric Lindros?
Posted by Garth on 09/13/09 at 11:34 PM ET
Be well Lil’s......the Wings take care of their own.
Screw the cap. (Yeah, pun in ten did)
Posted by Rumbear from Sandy Eggo on 09/14/09 at 12:37 AM ET
I hope Lilja turns out ok.
Post concussion symptoms are nothing to joke about. I can’t remember how many young talents retired years before they had to because of it.
BTW, what’s with the spam post showing up?
Posted by AvsRock from My timeshare in insanity... on 09/14/09 at 06:33 AM ET
Ericsson has way more upside than Lilja. Sure, he’s probably a full NHL season or two away from fully realizing his potential, but even now, Ericsson has more depth to his game. He’s shown he can play the PK, he’s an excellent skater for someone of his size (a la a younger Chris Pronger), he makes a good first pass, he can hit, and he can shoot the puck 100mph.
Of those attributes, Lilja really only has the PK/hitting aspect to his game, though his first pass isn’t bad. Yes, Lilja is one-trick pony that’s very good as his one trick (playing the PK). But I’d still rather have Ericsson.
Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 09/14/09 at 07:41 AM ET
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Problem deferred. I still think that a healthy Lilja is the Wings #5 defenseman above Ericsson, Lebda, and Meech. I want him in the lineup if and when he’s healthy enough. I just hope we don’t have to lose guys to the waiver wire like what happened with Quincey. Having too much NHL-ready talent is a good problem to have, but I hate to see us have to let any of them go for no return.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 09/13/09 at 05:35 PM ET