Danny DeKeyser undergoes back surgery, may miss rest of 2019-2020 season

By @MichaelCaples –

The hits keep coming for the Red Wings.

While the team may be getting Jimmy Howard back soon (he’s starting a conditioning stint in Grand Rapids), coach Jeff Blashill announced today that Danny DeKeyser may be done for the rest of the season.

“He was headed in the right direction and all of a sudden he had a setback,” Blashill said, via the Red Wings’ official site. “From the time he was hurt, it’s a huge impact on the team. He’s our top defenseman and I think he’s a super underrated player in the league. He’s one of the better defenders in the league, one of the better guys at moving a puck and being efficient in the things that I think that the really good defensemen do.

“Now we’ve played without him for a long time, so not having him — I don’t anticipate him — like I said, he could be out for potentially the season. Not having him is the reality of our situation. So we have to face it head on. It means that other guys are going to have to step up and play really good hockey. Is it challenging? Sure it’s challenging. We were hoping to get him back. He was making progress, had a setback and this is where we’re at today.”

The Clay Township native has been out of the line-up since Oct. 22, a crucial loss to a struggling blue line unit in Detroit.

Injuries have limited DeKeyser’s last two seasons; he played in only 52 contests last year, and 65 the year before.

Prior to that, he played in all 82 games in 2016-17, 78 in 2015-16, and 80 in 2014-15.