Joe Veleno called back up after injuries to the Red Wings roster.

The Detroit Red Wings have been forced to make a change to their lineup, although given who is getting called up I think this one will likely go over relatively well.

First let's get to the bad news. The Red Wings have announced that forward Mitchell Stephens has been placed on injured reserve, which means he is going to be out for a little while. The designation was made retroactive to Nov 13th, but that will still see him out for at least a couple of days. Once a player is assigned to injured reserve they must remain there for at least 7 days, and that is a big deal when you consider the Red Wings have 4 games on their schedule this week.

Stephens was playing an important role up the middle for the Red Wings this season, appearing in 16 games for them thus far and averaging 12 minutes of ice time a night. He has no goals on the season but has picked up 4 assists, and currently sits at a plus minus rating of -5.

There is some good news here and that is that the Red Wings have once again called up former first round draft pick Joe Veleno. 

Veleno has already had one stint with the Red Wings this season but it was a limited one. Veleno appeared in 4 games for the Red Wings, collecting 1 goal and 1 assist for a pair of points, but was quickly sent back down to the American Hockey League follow that stretch.

There is a lot of hype surrounding the 21 year old forward and that is understandable given his draft pedigree. Veleno was selected in the 1st round (30th overall) of the 2018 National Hockey League Entry Draft after he had fallen considerably in the draft. The Red Wings, and general manager Ken Holland who drafted him at the time, were obviously hopeful that Veleno could one day become a regular on their main roster, but he has yet to achieve that goal.

Veleno will get another shot to prove Ken Holland was right to select him when he did, and it could begin as early as this evening when the Red Wings take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.