DeKeyser’s back injury will leave him sidelined for much longer than expected

The Detroit Red Wings are going to be without their top defenseman for a while. The team announced today that Danny DeKeyser has had to undergo surgery for a back injury and he won’t be back for several months. He hasn’t played since getting hurt in a game against Vancouver on October 22^nd. Head coach Jeff Blashill gave a pretty bleak update on the situation:

He was headed in the right direction and all of a sudden, he had a setback. From the time he was hurt, it's a huge impact on the team. He's our top defenseman and I think he's a super underrated player in the league. He's one of the better defenders in the league, one of the better guys at moving a puck and being efficient in the things that I think that the really good defensemen do."

"Now we've played without him for a long time, so not having him -- I don't anticipate him -- like I said, he could be out for potentially the season. Not having him is the reality of our situation. So, we have to face it head on. It means that other guys are going to have to step up and play really good hockey. Is it challenging? Sure it's challenging. We were hoping to get him back. He was making progress, had a setback and this is where we're at today."

DeKeyser is the latest in a long stretch of injuries on the blueline for Detroit. The team has used 11 defensemen so far this season and a 12^th may be making an appearance soon as Brian Lashoff was called up Tuesday to offset losing Jonathan Ericsson to a facial injury.

DeKeyser averages over 22 minutes of ice-time per game, meaning someone is really going to need to step up to fill the hole his absence will leave. Detroit has been relying a lot on defenseman Filip Hronek lately, who is in his first full season with the team. He has played less than 70 NHL games in his career. In the Red Wings’ game against the L.A. Kings Sunday, Hronek played over 26 minutes.