The Red Wings made three roster moves before their matchup tonight with the Vancouver Canucks, and the headliner is J.T. Compher coming off injured reserve.
Detroit also recalled goaltender Michal Postava on an emergency basis and sent forward Sheldon Dries back to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
Compher’s return is the one that matters most on the forward side. The 660-game NHL veteran has been out since the second game of the Red Wings’ season after suffering an undisclosed injury in the first few days of October. That absence stretched to seven straight games.
When Compher is in the lineup, he gives Detroit a dependable middle-six center and a steady presence in key situations. Last season, he ranked sixth among Red Wings forwards in ice time per game at 15:40, including 1:32 per game shorthanded, with some occasional power-play work sprinkled in.
Detroit brought Compher in on a five-year deal with a $5.1MM AAV during the summer 2023 free-agent rush, and he delivered right away. In his first season with the club, he scored 19 goals and finished with 48 points in 77 games.
The production has trended down since then. He put up 11 goals and 32 points in 2024-25, then followed that with 11 goals and 28 points last season.
Even with that dip, Compher still offers value as a two-way center who can handle penalty-kill minutes. The contract looked heavy at points in the past, but in a league where salaries keep climbing, it is still reasonable for a player who can help in multiple roles even without the same offensive pop.
His return should give the Red Wings a clear upgrade over Dries. The 32-year-old Dries is a proven AHL scorer and a useful call-up, but his NHL impact is limited. With Compher out, Dries got into six games and did not record a point, though he did take on Compher’s short-handed role and averaged 1:21 of ice time per game on the penalty kill.
Detroit’s other move addresses the crease while backup Daniil Tarasov deals with an undisclosed day-to-day injury. Postava will step in behind starter John Gibson.
The 24-year-old has yet to make his NHL debut, and this emergency recall is likely to keep him in the backup role for now. Still, his path to this point has already made him one of the more interesting finds in the organization.
Postava was undrafted and was still in Czechia’s second division as recently as the 2023-24 season, when he played for HC Přerov. He put together a .943 save percentage in 42 games there and was named the league’s best goaltender.
The next season brought a jump to the Extraliga with HC Kometa Brno, where he again finished as the league’s best goaltender after posting a .921 save percentage in 42 regular-season games.
He then delivered a 17-game playoff run with a .940 save percentage and helped Brno win the Extraliga championship. That stretch drew NHL attention, and he signed a two-year entry-level contract with Detroit in the summer of 2025.
Postava has kept rolling since coming to North America. Last season with the Griffins, he went 17-6-0 in 25 games and posted a .937 save percentage while backing up top prospect Sebastian Cossa.
This season, he is 4-0-0 with a .954 save percentage and a 1.25 goals-against average. Earlier this week, Elite Prospects scout Max Lee wrote that Postava projects as a potential NHL backup goaltender “if he continues to elevate his game.”
Gibson still appears most likely to get the start while Tarasov remains out, but the recall gives Postava a real shot to finally see NHL action if Detroit needs him.
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