An MRI on the shoulder of Detroit Red Wings centre Pavel Datsyuk revealed a second-degree separation.

The 36-year-old Russian will be sidelined for around a month.

Datsyuk was taken hard into the boards by Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Rob Scuderi during Monday night's Red Wings victory.

"It's going to be around four weeks, give or take, depending on the healing process,'' Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun on Wednesday.

Holland is optimistic based on the timing of the injury.

"The good news is, two weeks of the healing process is going to be during pre-season," Holland added. "So half his time will be during training camp. That's at least good."

This is the third major injury for Datsyuk in the the last year.

He missed seven games last season with a concussion and 30 more with a right knee injury.

Datsyuk is heading into his 13th NHL season.