The Red Wings have assigned goaltender Ville Husso to AHL Grand Rapids on a conditioning loan, the team announced Monday. He’s been out for most of the second half of the season and hasn’t played since Feb. 13 with a lower-body injury. He logged under nine minutes of ice time in that game, exiting with a re-aggravation of the lower-body ailment that had previously kept him out since mid-December.
Even before the injury, it was a season to forget for Husso. The 29-year-old has been underwhelming for the Wings in two campaigns since they acquired him from the Blues and promptly extended him in the summer of 2022.
Across those two seasons, he has a respectable 35-27-9 record in 74 starts and one relief appearance but has done so on the back of a lot of goal support, posting a .895 SV% and 3.22 GAA. That works out to -19.6 goals saved above average since inking the three-year, $14.25MM extension.
Detroit has given the starter’s net to journeyman Alex Lyon since Husso’s injury, and he’ll undoubtedly be their Game 1 starter should they crack the playoff picture for the first time in eight years. The 31-year-old Lyon has smashed his previous career-high of 15 appearances, set last year with the Panthers, making 40 starts for the Wings while compiling a 20-17-4 record and .908 SV%.
Husso can spend up to 14 days in Grand Rapids on a conditioning loan, which would keep him there through the end of the regular season. His $4.75MM cap hit continues to count against Detroit’s books in full. If the Red Wings make the playoffs, he can be recalled and would likely sit in the press box while veteran James Reimer, who’s been better and is fresher than Husso, serves as Lyon’s backup.