Red Wings recall Michal Postava with Daniil Tarasov hurt

Detroit's goalie depth chart got shuffled on the morning of a road game, and the roster had to be rearranged to make room.

Helene St. James

@HeleneStJames

G Michal Postava recalled by Red Wings under emergency conditions, with Tarasov having tweaked something in practice Wednesday. With F JT Compher returning for Wings at Vancouver tonight, Sheldon Dries to assigned to the Griffins.

Helene St. James

@HeleneStJames

Red Wings calling up Michael Postava, after Daniil Terrasv tweaked something in yesterday‘s practice.

The key word is emergency. Under an emergency recall, a team can bring a goalie up when one of its NHL netminders can't go, which tells you Tarasov isn't available tonight. The injury is undisclosed. RotoWire reports he's been dealing with it since Tuesday's shootout loss to the Kraken, and it's unclear whether he'll be ready for Saturday in Calgary. For a team that just lost a game in the skills competition, losing a goalie on top of it is a rough way to start a road trip.

For tonight, the net is John Gibson's. He's expected to start against the Canucks with Postava on the bench as the backup. That's the real point of the recall: Detroit needs a second body in pads, and Postava is the guy in Grand Rapids who has earned the first call. He's a Czech goalie whose last big run came in 2025, when he backstopped HC Kometa Brno to the Extraliga title with a.940 save percentage over 17 playoff games, the best mark of any Czech goalie that postseason.

There's also some good news. Compher is coming back, and it looked likely well before the official word came out.

Helene St. James

@HeleneStJames

Compher penciled in for tonight Red Wings game, sure sounds like he is playing against Canucks.

Compher has missed 7 straight games with his own undisclosed injury. Detroit put him on IR retroactive to October 4, and he'd played 2 games without a point before he went down. He isn't going to score his way back into anyone's good graces overnight, but getting a veteran center back in the middle stabilizes a lineup that has been plugging holes all month.

The numbers game claims Dries. He was the guy brought up to cover the forward injuries, and with Compher healthy he goes back to the Griffins. RotoWire also expects Detroit to go back to 12 forwards with Compher in, which could leave Andreas Englund as a healthy scratch. That's the usual AHL shuttle at work: whoever got called up to fill a hole goes back down once the hole is filled.

What to watch next is Tarasov's timeline. If he can't go Saturday in Calgary, Gibson carries a heavier load on the trip and Postava stays up longer than a 1-night insurance policy. If Tarasov gets cleared quickly, Postava goes back down the same way Dries did. For now Detroit has 2 healthy goalies, Compher back in the lineup and a game in Vancouver tonight.