Red Wings’ Michael Rasmussen leaves game against Blue Jackets with injury
The Detroit Red Wings have taken a hit to their late-season push for a playoff spot.
Center Michael Rasmussen suffered a lower-body injury during Detroit’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. After the game, head coach Todd McLellan said he expects Rasmussen to miss at least a few games as he took a shot to almost the exact same location of his previous injury.
#RedWings McLellan said Rasmussen will miss a few more games after getting hit with a shot almost exactly in the same place as his previous injury.
In 63 games this season, the 6’6″, 222-pound Rasmussen has six goals and eight assists for 14 points. The Surrey, B.C. native has played in just three games since returning from his previous injury, which kept him out of nine games and was classified as undisclosed, though we know now was likely a lower-body injury based on McLellan’s comments.
Selected ninth overall by the Red Wings in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Rasmussen is now in his seventh season in Detroit. Though he has yet to live up to the expectations that come with his draft status, Rasmussen has carved out a role as a dependable, big-bodied bottom-six center. His career-best season came in 2023-24, when he tallied 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 points in 75 games.
Rasmussen is in the second season of a four-year, $12.8 million contract.
After earning a point in Tuesday’s shootout loss to Columbus, Detroit now has 89 points through 78 games, which puts them three points back of the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They’ll also have to leapfrog the Blue Jackets, who now have 90 points in the same number of games, and ward off the New York Islanders, with whom they are tied in the standings.
The Red Wings will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday before playing their final home game of the regular season against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.