Mittelstadt will suit up for his second game of the season, playing on the first line with Jack Eichel and Victor Olofsson. Mittelstadt had one assist in 10:02 TOI in his first game of the season.
Toews was hurt late in Thursday's win over the Sharks after blocking a shot with his foot. Toews did not travel to Minnesota, so he'll miss at least two games but could be out longer. Conor Timmins will replace Toews on Saturday.
Georgiev allowed three goals on 24 shots in the Rangers loss in Buffalo on Tuesday. Igor Shesterkin has started three of the last four games, so they'll give Georgiev the nod in the first game of a two-game set vs. the Penguins. After opening the season with a 23-save shutout, Georgiev has lost his last two while allowing a combined seven goals on 44 shots (.841 SV%). Pittsburgh comes in at 4-3-1 while averaging 2.75 goals per game (19th) through their first eight games.
Helm has missed the last two games with an undisclosed issue but could return to the lineup on Thursday. Helm is listed as a game-time decision but even if he plays he no fantasy value in a bottom-6 role for the Red Wings.
Georgiev was pulled after allowing four goals on 20 shots in the Rangers' loss to New Jersey last Tuesday. Igor Shesterkin started the last two games but lost both, so they'll come back to Georgiev on Tuesday. He posted a 23-save shutout in his first start of the season but draws a tough assignment against a Sabres team that is playing good hockey to start the season.
Kiviranta was on the ice for the start of Saturday's practice but left the session early and landed on IR on Sunday morning. With Kiviranta on IR, the Stars recalled Tanner Keto from the taxi squad but Rhett Gardner replaced him on a line with Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov.
Helm returned from a COVID-19 related absence on Friday but is once again questionable for Sunday's rematch in Chicago. The Red Wings have a lot of players missing right now, so they'll likely need to bring someone up from the taxi squad to replace Helm if he's unavailable.
Manson missed Wednesday's game with an injury he suffered on Monday and unfortunately for the Ducks, the oblique issue will keep him out for roughly six weeks. This is a huge loss for a Ducks blueline that is running thin on experience.
Manson played just 6:14 TOI on Monday before leaving with an upper-body injury. With Manson out for Wednesday's game vs. the Wild, Andy Welinski will draw into the lineup and Jani Hakanpää will move up to play with Cam Fowler.
Francouz suffered a minor injury and is listed as day-to-day, so Hunter Miska has been promoted to the active roster to serve as Philipp Grubauer's backup in Los Angeles.
Poolman was added to the COVID-19 list over the weekend and will not be available for Monday's game in Toronto. In addition to Poolman's absence, Dylan DeMelo did not make the trip either due to personal reasons.
Igor Shesterkin started the season opener but they will turn to Georgiev in the rematch vs. the Islanders. The 24-year-old netminder was 17-14-2 with a 3.04 GAA and .910 SV% in 34 appearances a year ago. If he doesn't improve on those numbers in 2020, Shesterkin will get a very large portion of the starts. Georgiev faced the Islanders four times last year, going 3-1-0 with a 2.81 GAA and .920 SV%.
Mittelstadt has yet to live up to the billing of being selected No.8 overall in 2017 and that led to him being demoted to the AHL in 2020. He had nine points (4G / 5A) in 31 games with the Sabres before being sent to Rochester, where he tallied 25 points (9G / 16A) in 36 games. Mittelstadt is expected to get a spot in the Sabres' bottom-6 to start the 2021 season but has a lot to prove if he's going to get a raise next summer.
