3 realistic free agent replacements for Jimmy Howard.

Red Wings may have few options.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
3 realistic free agent replacements for Jimmy Howard.
Scott Taetsch/CSM/Zuma

Realistically speaking the Detroit Red Wings are highly unlikely to be one of the National Hockey League's premier destinations for free agents this summer, or whenever free agency ends up occuring in the NHL. The team is coming off one of the worst seasons in recent memory and frankly the sudden stoppage of the 2019 - 2020 NHL regular season was in many ways a mercy for a Red Wings team that showed very little promise overall during the course of the season. 

It seems likely that the Red Wings are set to have a much better campaign in the 2019 - 2020 regular season and part of the reason for that is due to the big roster changes that are on the horizon. Perhaps the biggest change will come when long time Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard is no longer between the pipes, a move that it seems everyone is expecting to happen when Howard's contract expires at the end of the season. Howard is coming off a rather poor season with the Red Wings and recently Red Wings insider Ansar Khan made it clear he believes Howard's time in the Red Wings' crease has come to an end.

From Khan:

Detroit’s main man in net for a decade, Howard’s final season as a Red Wing was a massive struggle (2-23-2, 4.20 GAA, .882 save percentage). He will finish his career ranked third, behind Terry Sawchuk and Chris Osgood, on the franchise list for games (543) and wins (246-196-70).

Khan believes however that the Red Wings won't be able to attract a starter through free agency and instead will move forward with Jonathan Bernier as their starter next season. Although there are or were some big names set to hit free agency at the end of the season, names like Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby, Las Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner, Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom, Boston Bruins backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak, Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford and Anton Khudobin of the Dallas Stars, Khan does not believe the Red Wings will be able to attract players of their caliber. Khan believes the combination of the Red Wings price range, the ability for teams to re-sign their own goaltenders, and the limited competitive opportunities the Red Wings can currently provide players will force the organization to go for some lesser names in free agency.

Khan list 3 options as potential targets for the Red Wings and they are the following:

Cam Talbot:

Coming off a solid season with the Calgary Flames, Talbot's one year gamble on himself appears to have paid off. He would be an excellent candidate to push Bernier for the starting job and would likely come in at a low number.

Thomas Greiss:

Greiss was good for the Islanders and at times was even really good, but inconsistent play has marred his career and has been the largest contributing factor in him remaining in a backup role. That being said though when on form Greiss can be outstanding as he showed over 43 games just 2 seasons ago with a .927 save percentage and 2.28 goals against average for the Islanders.

Aaron Dell:

In my opinion the weakest of the 3 options, the 31 year old netminder has been a career backup and has been at best mediocre over his past two seasons in the National Hockey League. The most attractive quality for Dell would likely be the fact that he can fill a backup role at the NHL level and would likely come in at a very low number. 


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