Jimmy Howard comments on the possibility of being traded for the first time in his career.

The National Hockey League's holiday roster freeze is in full effect and although that means no player can be moved at this time it is also the time of year when NHL general managers begin to take serious looks at their roster and weigh which pieces, if any, are disposable moving forward. 

For contending teams it is always a matter of what pieces they can add to take that next step towards being a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and for teams who are in the middle of a roster rebuild, teams like the Detroit Red Wings, it often means that veteran players on expiring contracts become prime candidates for trades after the holiday break. 

As many of our readers will already know all the talk in Detroit has been around one name in recent weeks, and that name belongs to Red Wings star goaltender Jimmy Howard. The veteran netminder has completely reinvented himself over the past two seasons and his resurgence as one of the NHL's premier puck stoppers has made him an ideal trade candidate, one that could bet the Red Wings a very significant return prior to the deadline. Howard has not only played well above the league average all season but he is on an expiring contract which would make him an ideal rental for a contending team looking to shore up their goaltending and there has been serious speculation regarding which way general manager Ken Holland will choose to go when it comes to Howard.

This week Howard was asked about the speculation that has been surrounding him and the veteran netminder openly admitted that he has heard the talk as of late. That being said though he also went out of his way to make it clear that his first choice would be to remain as a member of the Detroit Red Wings organization.

“It’s the reality of sports. And it’s the reality of the profession that we’re in that this stuff happens,” he said of the trade talk as per The Athletic. “I haven’t been thinking about it. Very, very happy where I am. My family’s very happy to be in Detroit. So hopefully we get to stay here.

“I’ve been around for so long, been through several contract negotiations. It really doesn’t faze me, really, anymore like I was when I was younger. I think now it’s just. I’m sort of just enjoying it knowing that I’m getting up there in age and how young this game has really become; I’m really honestly just trying to enjoy every single moment of it.”

Howard's presence in net has unquestionably made the Red Wings a much bigger threat this season, but that may not actually be a good thing given the current direction of this organization. You could easily argue that moving Howard and losing more games to close out the season would put the Red Wings in a better position for the future than keeping him and making themselves a team on the edge of the playoff bubble would. How Holland moves forward now however is anyone's guess, if he can make a move like he did for Tomas Tatar last season however you have to believe he pulls the trigger.