The Detroit Red Wings are starting to find themselves in a pre-New Year injury spell, as they did not have defenseman Brian Rafalski in their line-up on Monday night against the Avalanche, thanks to a back problem. Rafalski reportedly suffered the injury on Sunday night against the Wild and for precautionary reasons, the team kept him out of the line-up on Monday, likely with the intention to properly reevaluate the injury before Wednesday's game in Dallas.
Rafalski has been dealing with injuries already this season, having a knee injury earlier on in the year, which has restricted the veteran defenseman to only 25 games. Nevertheless, he has been productive in the games he has played, picking up 23 assists in the process. His playmaking ability, you would think would be missed, but the Red Wings continue to roll on with all of their injuries, as they beat the Avalanche, 4-3 in overtime on Monday night.
Rafalski was also taken in the 5th round (85th overall), the round of defensemen, by Neil and for the most part, it has looked like an okay pick this season. Rafalski was the 9th blueliner taken in the draft and went into Week Thirteen as the 13th best defenseman in scoring, so overall it's a pretty good pick. However, after Monday night's action, Neil is currently sitting in 10th spot in the standings, 1 point out of 8th and 25 points out of 4th.Link to the Injury/News Page
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