The Red Wings announced they’ve recalled Ville Husso from AHL Grand Rapids under emergency conditions. Summoning the netminder indicates that either Alex Lyon or Cam Talbot is at risk of being unavailable for this evening’s game against the Maple Leafs. However, the team hasn’t disclosed who might be out or why.
Husso, 29, started Detroit’s season opener against the Penguins but allowed four goals on 14 shots and was pulled from the game early in the second period. That poor showing put a quick end to the Wings’ brief three-goalie rotation experiment for this season, as he was placed on waivers the following weekend and was subsequently assigned to Grand Rapids.
The Finnish netminder was on a short leash after a tough stretch of play last season. He managed a .893 SV% in 18 appearances to start 2023-24 before sustaining a lower-body injury that put him on the shelf for over a month. After a brief conditioning assignment with Grand Rapids, he attempted to return. However, he allowed a goal on seven shots against the Oilers on Feb. 13 before being pulled from the game with a reaggravation of his injury less than nine minutes in. Husso got another brief AHL conditioning stint at the end of the season but never suited up again for Detroit due to the ailment.
The Red Wings haven’t gotten the level of play out of Husso they anticipated when they acquired his signing rights from the Blues in 2022 and subsequently inked him to a three-year, $14.25MM extension. In 76 appearances for the Wings, he has a 35-28-9 record but has poor numbers to support it with a .894 SV%, 3.25 GAA, four shutouts, and -21.3 GSAA. They’re in the home stretch of that deal, which carries a $4.75MM cap hit ($3.6MM when he’s in the minors) and expires next summer.
If there’s a silver lining, Husso has been lights out in brief action for Grand Rapids this season. He has a .958 SV%, 1.23 GAA, a shutout, and a 2-0-0 record in three appearances.
I think all the Dead Wings need is goaltending, but Yzerman needs to stop throwing darts in hopes to have one stick. With all the players he’s dumped, you’d think that a trade for a goaltender would be in the Yzerplan. Come on Yzerman, use that hockey mind that everyone is talking about and fleece a good goalie from somebody.
What’s the hurry? He will have a good goalie when Cossa comes up at the end of this year or the start of next year.
Let’s hope so. The hurry is 10 years without playoff hockey. 10 years…
That’s not a good look to the Yzerplan. So let’s hope so.
Well it has been 9 yrs since post season play, so next spring would be 10…….maybe…Not a big deal till next year. You will have a coaching change, Cossa will be up, 5 more roster spots to fill and well over $20M in cap space.
Like I said…10 years.
I am certainly no fan of Husso something happened to him last year even before the spite of injuries. They left him in starts way too many times when Lyon could have saved some points. Now, this season I was disappointed to see him back in NHL roster and games. However, he actually performed a lot better than at any time last year even before his injuries. With a new upcoming goalie in the wings, the 3 now in rotation (Husso rotating from/to AHL) they should be good to wait for Cossa. It is the oddly disorganized play of late that creates too many D zone chances for opponents and reliance on odd bounces to score offensively that is puzzling. Any time Buffalo can trap you, running around chasing the puck for minutes upon minutes, in your own zone, says something just isn’t right here..
Yzerman got rid of Hronek, And he threw money at Husso based on a very small sample size of success. Yzerman deserves the mess he’s in!
Well, we at the Redwings seem to be in something of a plateau riding just off the bottom of the division. A bit like the exposed beach before a tsunami. Question is will that tsunami wave be talent with longevity or losses for the foreseeable future. Given the constraints now in place in the NHL, lets hope that the Wings have built a good talent pool waiting to ride that tsunami into the Wing’s dressing room and flood the scoresheets with wins.
Sorry for the corny post.
RW vs Leafs. Husso performance was “OK” but the team seems to have the inability to finish offensively now. Maybe USAKesler has a point. Got rid of some decent defense and now the team has to lean defensively maybe at the cost of aggressive offense? Getting tired of trying to figure out what has gone wrong here. Talent, effort on behalf of some, coaching…. What is it?
Loss to Ducks is unforgiveable. Wings are throwing away points that will haunt them late in the season.
SOMETHING is wrong inside this team. They seem to be lost on the ice more than not. Passes are to nobody or worse, are give aways. Constantly dumping in and chasing but not getting to the puck, then very limited control time when they do get control. Yep, something is wrong, can’t really tell from the outside what that might be. Could be systems, personalities, laziness, or just too comfy on the contract side. Won’t survive playing just below whomever the opponent happens to be.