How the Zidlicky trade will impact rookie Alexei Marchenko.

There's been a lot of questions surrounding Alexei Marchenko after the Red Wings acquired Marek Zidlicky in a trade and today Mike Babcock addressed those concerns.

"We really like Marchenko,” Babcock told NHL.com. “Marchenko is a real good player and he has played very well for us. You can never have too many d-men at this time of the year. We wanted to make sure we had enough hands on deck. We’re going to make sure he’s playing.”

While it's clear that Babcock is a huge fan of Marchenko, even going so far as stating that the Red Wings might not need a trade based on his play. However the injury he suffered, an oblique strain, likely was a big part of why the Red Wings acquired Zidlicky, and it's clear that they intend to use him.

“Zidlicky’s going to play on the power play and play a regular shift, starting with [Brendan] Smith, and he’s going to run our power play with [Pavel] Datsyuk, and we’ll see kind of where it goes from there,” Babcock told CBS Detroit. “Zidlicky, he’s a competitor, he can shoot the puck, he can make plays, he’s got good offensive skill. I think he’ll be a real addition. He made some plays in practice today that make you smile, which is positive.”

So while it's clear the Red Wings still want to have Marchenko playing, he is likely going to be relegated to a depth role.