GRAND RAPIDS - Michael Rasmussen has a lot of catching up to do.

Rasmussen, the ninth overall pick in 2017, returned to the Grand Rapids Griffins after missing 23 games with an injury and said he’s progressing after being out nearly two months.

“It’s tough being out that long; you don’t want to be out that long,” he said after Friday’s 1-0 win against Manitoba. He played on the second line between Chris Terry and Evgeny Svechnikov, had two shots and was a plus-1.

The 6-foot-6 center last played Nov. 12 before he went out with an undisclosed injury but believed to be back related. And, that was after he missed five games beginning in late October. Rasmussen said those were not related injuries.

Asked directly how he feels, Rasmussen said, “It’s OK. Like I said, I worked real hard to get where I’m at here. So, it’s OK and I feel good.”

The injury made for an unfortunate first half of the season for one of the organization’s most promising young players. Rasmussen was playing well in his limited time with two goals and nine points in 10 games.

Now, he has to see how quickly he can catch up.

“I don’t think there’s too much lost time; I don’t look at it like that,” he said. “Health comes first. I’m not helping the team when I’m in pain, so I wouldn’t call it a waste of time. It’s just getting healthy and getting back out there.”

The Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from Grand Rapids just over 60 times in the first half of the season, so there have been opportunities.

“The fact he’s been out so much hurts the timeline of development,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said earlier Friday. “It doesn’t necessarily mean it will hurt his development long term. But the timeline, the quickness with which he would be ready to be an NHL player is hurt.”

That will bring a close watch from the Griffins’ staff to monitor Rasmussen’s progress.

“You have to manage his ice time,” said Griffins coach Ben Simon. “We have back to back games and he might wake up tomorrow sore. So we’ll have to make decisions on the lineup (for Saturday), and he’s got to make sure he’s taking care of himself in the gym, with his nutrition and making sure he’s getting his rest to go to the amount of minutes we want him to play.”

Rasmussen had his best scoring opportunity in the first period as he stood sturdy in front and got in a couple jabs at a loose puck before Comrie covered it up.

Late in the game he gave up a good scoring opportunity on the power play, opting for a pass attempt in front of the net.

“Obviously, his timing was a little bit off,” Simon said, "But, for all intents and purposes his skating was there tonight, his hockey sense was there and he was holding onto the pucks in the O zone and playing responsibly defensively.

“It’s tough. He’s been working his the tail off the ice in the weight room pretty much since he’s been back skating. But you can’t replicate game situations.”

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