Turns out that Johan Franzen’s injury is more serious than he thought. Bruce MacLeod blogged today that Franzen will be out 3-4 weeks with an MCL sprain.
Aaron Downey or Matt Ellis will fill Franzen’s spot in the lineup but will likely join the third or fourth line. Kris Draper, Dan Cleary or Valtteri Filppula will be bumped up to Franzen’s spot.
My guess is that Babcock will want to give Filppula the ice time but since he’s not quite as gritty as Franzen, Cleary might fit the role better.