Detroit Red Wings prospect Michael Rasmussen has suffered a setback.

Rasmussen, the Wings’ first-round pick this past June, is out 4-8 weeks after undergoing wrist surgery, Wings general manager Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press.

“He could have waited till the end of the season, but he was tired of playing in pain,” Holland said Saturday. “We decided on surgery now because on the short end, he’ll be back some time in late Janurary; on the long end, sometime in February.

“He’s hoping to get back and find his game and help his team go on a long playoff run. Having the surgery now allows him to do that, and to go into the offseason healthy and ready for a good summer in the gym.”

Rasmussen has 16 goals and 15 assists for 31 points in 22 games this season with his junior club, the Tri-City Americans in the Western Hockey League.

A 6-foot-6, 215-pound center, Rasmussen, 18, impressed at training camp, enough so to earn looks in exhibition games in which the Wings fielded mostly their NHL lineup, not AHLers and other junior players. Rasmussen did a good job going to the net and screening goaltenders. He scored four goals in five NHL exhibitions.

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Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.