The Detroit Red Wings provided an update on Andrew Copp on Tuesday after he left Saturday’s game against Anaheim due to an upper-body injury.
According to the team, Copp underwent successful surgery to repair his left pectoral tendon and will miss the rest of the season. His expected recovery time is 4-6 months. You can rewatch the play where Copp was injured here.
The injury occurred after a large hit by Alex DeBrincat, which knocked defenseman Brock Faber to the ice. While the hit was clean, the Wild took issue with it, resulting in a skirmish. Copp, stepping in to help his teammates, fell to the ice and immediately began favoring his arm. Initially, it appeared to be a broken forearm or torn labrum, so it wasn’t too far from the truth.
Forward Sheldon Dries was recalled from Grand Rapids to provide some depth, given that Detroit will be without both Copp and Michael Rasmussen for tonight’s game against Minnesota.
As for Detroit’s salary cap, experts at PuckPedia report that the team has $3 million in projected cap space (after the Husso trade) and $14 million in deadline space. Copp’s move to LTIR won’t free up any additional cap space unless the Red Wings first add $14 million of annual cap hit. LTIR allows teams to exceed the salary cap, but since Detroit is already below the cap, Copp’s absence won’t provide any extra benefits.
