Former NHL goaltender joins Red Wings coaching staff.

The Detroit Red Wings have bolstered their coaching staff, and in doing so they continue to focus on improving their team at one of the positions that matters the most in the National Hockey League, goaltending.

On Monday, the Red Wings officially announced that they had hired former NHL goaltender Michael Leighton to join their coaching. Leighton will take over as the Red Wings' goaltending coach, a position that he understands better than most.

Leighton himself spent time in the NHL, primarily in a backup role, playing for teams like the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes. In total Leighton would appear in 111 regular season games and has a career goals against average of 2.98 and a career save percentage of .900 at the NHL level.

The 44 year old also spent considerable time in the American Hockey League where he would appear in 401 regular season games, posting a career goals against average of 2.43 and a career save percentage of .916 at the AHL level. Leighton was also inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame earlier this year.

The hiring of Leighton appears to be a continuation of the efforts from Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman to help his team improve between the pipes before the 2025-26 NHL regular season. Earlier this month the Red Wings acquired veteran goaltender John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks, giving up a pair of draft picks as well as goaltender Petr Mrazek in the process. It seems fair to suggest that both Gibson and Leighton will now be working closely together moving forward.

The Red Wings already have both John Gibson and veteran netminder Cam Talbot under contract for next season, and with today's addition of Leighton to their coaching staff I suspect this is the end of their moves at the goaltending position ahead of next season.