Rumor: Strong performance from Howard likely to result in a trade.

Howard on the chopping block?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Rumor: Strong performance from Howard likely to result in a trade.
Scott Taetsch/CSM/Zuma

The Detroit Red Wings currently find themselves in the playoff in spite of expectations prior to the start of the regular season that this would be one more rebuilding year for the organization. As a result most fans and pundits fully expected that the Wings would fail to make the postseason, but that currently does not appear to be the way the organization is trending at this time. Instead the Red Wings currently find themselves just 8 points back of the Montreal Canadiens and with plenty of season left to play they have all the time in the world to make up that ground. 

The Red Wings unexpected success has been propelled largely by the outstanding play of veteran goaltender Jimmy Howard who has reemerged as the organizations number 1 goaltender over the course of the past 2 seasons and is looking like one of the National Hockey League's very best goaltenders overall this season. Currently NHL goaltenders boast a league average save percentage of .908 for the 2018 - 2019 NHL regular season but Howard has played well above that level recording a .922 save percentage and 2.66 goals against average over the course of 24 regular season games. Those numbers become all the more impressive when you consider that he is playing on a team that has some obvious deficiencies on their roster.

As a result of his stellar play The Athletic's Scott Powers wonders whether or not Howard will be a Red Wings come the NHL's trade deadline in February. From Powers:

Yet given the exemplary play of Detroit’s longtime backstopper, it’s fair to wonder whether he’ll still be a Red Wing when the trade deadline passes at 3 p.m. EST on Feb. 25...

But with a number of teams needing goaltending help, GM Ken Holland has a lot to unpack vis a vis Howard, who is in the final year of a six-year deal and could be headed to unrestricted free agency next summer.

Does he extend Howard and hope the team accelerates the growth process around him? Does he trade him before the deadline and hope to bring in even more assets in the form of top picks or prospects?

I believe it would be a mistake to extend Howard given the fact that the Red Wings are clearly not ready to be a serious threat to the Stanley Cup Championship at this time, and with Howard playing so well there may be no better time to get your return on investment. As Powers mentioned a number of teams are in need of goaltending help and last season Holland was able to get a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round draft choice for Tomas Tatar. If he can get a similar deal for Howard does he really have any business turning it down?

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