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Roster Update: With Motte and Perhaps Compher Still Out, Do the Red Wings Need Further Maneuvering?

At today's Detroit Red Wings practice, forwards Tyler Motte and J.T. Compher remained absent. Motte has been out with what coach Derek Lalonde described as an upper body injury since an awkward collision with Victor Mancini against the New York on Oct. 17, while Compher missed last night's game while battling a flu bug that continues to sweep through the locker room.

To begin with the latter, when asked about Compher's status for tomorrow's game in Buffalo, coach Derek Lalonde said, "He's possible. He's probably in a similar situation where he was yesterday, so we're hopeful he'll be available tomorrow." Meanwhile, Motte will not play tomorrow against the Sabres. Instead, he is, per Lalonde, "still in that day-to-day, upper body. He did get a post-practice skate, so he is taking some steps, but he's still in the day-to-day [range]. I wouldn't quite call it week-to-week, but we're approaching that." When asked if Motte would likely have to participate in a full practice before re-joining the lineup, given that his absence has now extended beyond a week, Lalonde said, "I think so, just tempo, pace, not being on the ice for a number of days."

So, given that Detroit won't practice again until after this weekend, it seems safe to rule Motte out for both tomorrow's game against the Sabres and Sunday's against Edmonton. It sounds as though Compher has a realistic chance to play tomorrow or perhaps at least on Sunday when the Oilers visit Little Caesars Arena, but if he is unable to go in either or both, some maneuvering may prove necessary.

The Red Wings roster is currently at the maximum allowable 23 players. They could immediately free up a roster spot by moving Motte to Injured Reserve, and since he has already missed a week, he could be eligible to return at any point. However, that doesn't actually solve the problem. Unlike Long-Term Injured Reserve, standard issue IR does not come with cap relief. Per PuckPedia, the Red Wings have $557,667 in cap space, and that's not enough even for a veteran minimum-salary contract.

This, too, is not an insurmountable issue, but solving it would require some sacrifice. The easiest path to creating room for another forward would be sending Justin Holl back down to the AHL, and he is still within his 30-day waiver exemption window after being sent down just before the start of the regular season, so he would not need to clear waivers again. However, after last night's game, Lalonde mentioned that he appreciated having three right-handed D-men in the lineup. That wouldn't be an option absent Holl.

The easiest solution is of course to simply get back a healthy Compher, but if that doesn't prove the case, Detroit may be forced into some creativity or discomfort with its lineups.

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