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Petr Mrazek & The Goaltending Conundrum

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In Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, the venerable hockey insider reports that the Edmonton Oilers at one point had some interest in Detroit Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek. Friedman writes that Edmonton may have backed off after watching the 25-year old goaltender struggle recently, something that seems to be a common thread all around the league.

Peter MrazekSeveral other teams are looking for goaltending help—Friedman himself mentions Florida and Pittsburgh—but there isn’t a shining option on the market at the moment. Mrazek could have been that star, if the aforementioned struggles hadn’t crept up on him again. Though he was once heralded as the goaltender of the future for Detroit, Mrazek has clashed with the front office in contract negotiations, and been generally outplayed by a resurgent Jimmy Howard over the past two seasons.

This year, Howard has taken the lion’s share of the work in the Detroit net, starting 22 of the team’s 29 games. He’s recorded a .905 save percentage in those games which, while not even league-average, is quite a bit better than his counterpart. Mrazek’s .888 mark is tied for fourth-worst in the league among goaltenders who’ve made at least 10 appearances. Only Maxime Lagace, Laurent Brossoit, Chad Johnson have been worse, while James Reimer clocks in at the same number.

Mrazek is young enough to improve, but his contract status as a pending restricted free agent that is already making $4.15MM is likely off-putting to many teams. A qualifying offer is likely too expensive for any team as a backup, and there is no guarantee he’d accept a lower number on a longer-term deal.

So, where else can you look around the league for goaltending help? Michael Hutchinson has been in the rumor mill lately, as the Winnipeg Jets get Steve Mason back healthy tonight. Unfortunately, Hutchinson injured himself in a minor league game this weekend (though the injury seems minor) and has been underwhelming at best during his NHL career.

Jonathan Bernier was signed by the Colorado Avalanche as potential trade deadline bait, but has been nearly as bad as Mrazek so far this year. His .891 save percentage doesn’t inspire much confidence, as consistency continues to be Bernier’s downfall.

Even a goaltender like Philipp Grubauer, who has been a potential trade target for some time due to a combination of outstanding play and clear role as the backup to Braden Holtby, hasn’t played well enough to trust this season. He, like Scott Darling and Antti Raanta this offseason, was seen as a future starting goaltender in the league just waiting for the right opportunity.

There’s not an easy answer here to the goaltending problems around the league. For teams like Edmonton and Florida, who already find themselves struggling to stay relevant in the playoff race, dealing assets for anything but a sure thing isn’t very appealing.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Atlantic Notes: Eichel, Howard

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The Sabres’ struggles, and the mounting frustration with it have been well chronicled. The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington writes about a new irritation for Buffalo–this one about star Jack Eichel who is frustrated for their Sabres netminder Robin Lehner. Despite all of the losing, Eichel is growing into a leadership role and pointed to himself after a 3-2 overtime loss to Chicago Friday night. Gifted a chance to put away the Hawks with a penalty shot in overtime, an exhausted Eichel couldn’t convert and the Hawks put the Sabres away minutes later. Lehner played outstanding, stopping 48 of 51 shots, and Eichel knew this. The emotional winger spoke of his fatigue with losing and specifically with how they’re losing. The pain in his voice, Harrington reports, was so great that Lehner had to compose himself during his own interview with the assembled media. Though they’re at the bottom of the Atlantic and the East, no one can accuse the team of not caring.

  • The Red Wings are right back to their losing ways and a 6-1 beating from St. Louis this afternoon was a result of poor goaltending writes the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. Jimmy Howard surrendered four goals on eight shots, and was benched in favor of Petr Mrazek in the third period. The performance was bad enough that Howard received a Bronx cheer after stopping a long shot late in the second. Though Howard shrugged it off, the Red Wings netminder wasn’t sharp on a couple of the four goals. Though St. James exonerates the defense, it certainly had its moments, showing again that the Red Wings are far from any type of playoff hunt. Time is running out in Hockeytown, and barring a turnaround, the Wings would benefit most from lining up their best assets and selling at the trade deadline.

Mrazek Ready To Bounce Back For Red Wings

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One goaltender who has a lot to prove this season is Detroit’s Petr Mrazek. After struggling for the past year and a half to eventually losing his job to Jimmy Howard to being left exposed for the expansion draft (due to attitude issues) and then not even taken, the 25-year-old once franchise goaltender finds himself at a crossroad. Either Mrazek rediscovers his game or he will slowly disappear into a permanent backup role.

However, according to MLive’s Ansar Khan, the goaltender has been working hard all offseason to return to form. Now with just one year remaining on his $4MM deal, Khan writes that Mrazek has been humbled by recent events and has come into camp hungry to perform. His numbers must be improved on. While his 2015-16 numbers are respectable (2.33 GAA, .921 save percentage), his second half was not that good, while his 3.04 GAA last year and .901 save percentage were both the worst percentages of any in his career at any level.

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said that Mrazek struggled through the boredom of working on his basic skills, comparing it to basketball players who get bored just constantly throwing free throws — however, those skills are critical to success. Blashill says that Mrazek has begun to get back to the basics and worked hard to fix his game, especially when it comes to his moving around in the crease. The goaltender struggled to stay calm in the net and has often made simple saves look challenging. He has spent hours watching video every day in hopes to make changes to his current play.

“Not to be flying in the net, just stay calm and stop as many pucks as I can,” Mrazek said Saturday, following the second day of training camp at Centre I.C.E.

However, according to Blashill, it’s his work ethic that has changed as well as his attitude. Since being exposed in the expansion draft in favor of 33-year-old Jimmy Howard, who Vegas would never have had any interest in, Mrazek has seen the light. While he must win back the starting job from Howard this season, he is also playing for his future. A poor season will not only limit his potential earnings next season, but will likely force him to accept a backup position, while a big year could net his a long-term deal with Detroit or another franchise.

“The season wasn’t the season I wanted to have, so I’m happy I’m back,” Mrazek said. “I have lots to give back to Detroit. We all know they gave me a chance to play my first NHL game and gave me a chance to play (144) games. So, I have lots to prove and give them back.”

Red Wings Notes: Playoff Push, Mrazek, Sproul, McIlrath

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Whether for good or bad, the Detroit Red Wings have continued on their pursuit for reaching the playoffs despite having one of the highest payrolls with the least production. After not reaching the playoffs, many believed it was time to rebuild the “great franchise,” but that is not the course it took as it made few moves to fix their aging, yet expensive roster and only added more veterans to it with the hopes that many of their veterans would bounce back this year.

MLive’s Ansar Khan took questions regarding the team path, pointing out that the Red Wings brass have no interest in a team rebuild and are going all-out to reach the playoffs again. His belief is the team has no confidence that their youth can outperform the veterans that are already on the team. The team may have little choice as they are even now over the cap and have very few tradeable contracts at present, but things may change if the Red Wings put up a second disappointing season next year.

  • Petr Mrazek should be especially motivated this season as he enters his contract year. Once considered to be their starting goaltender of the future, the 24-year-old has struggled over the last year and a half, according to Khan. He finished last year with a 3.04 GAA and a .901 save percentage, losing his job to veteran Jimmy Howard. He then was exposed to the expansion draft and not selected by Vegas. Khan believes if he doesn’t step up this year, the Red Wings will not make him a $4MM qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent in 2018.
  • The Red Wings, which have nine defensemen currently under contract, are likely to shed 24-year-old Ryan Sproul before the seasons begin, assuming there are no injuries. That should get them down to eight defenders and the general belief is that Luke Witkowski will be moved to play the forward position as a fourth-line wing or the 13th man. He would only play defense in emergencies.
  • Khan also writes that minor league defenseman Dylan McIlrath, acquired in March from the Florida Panthers, is not a likely candidate to make the Detroit roster. The former 2010 first-round pick has struggled to stay on an NHL roster long-term and while he brings a physical presence the team desperately needs, it’s more likely the team brought Witkowski in to play that same role. McIlrath has only played in 43 NHL games in his career.

Detroit On Top Of NHL In No-Trade Clauses

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No trade clauses seem to have become the “in-thing” in negotiations as NTC’s are more prevalent than ever. Many general managers are forced to offer them to entice free agents to come to their teams. Other teams just give them to their top players to prove their loyalty to that player. For instance, the Tampa Bay Lightning have eight no-trade clauses on their roster, but that’s normal for a team that is expected to contend for a Stanley Cup.

However, what about the Detroit Red Wings. The struggling franchise is tied with Ottawa for a league-high 10 no-trade clauses on their roster for a team that’s already capped out with nothing to show for it but a roster of aging, overpriced veterans. The best option for Detroit and general manager Ken Holland, who handed out those no-trade clauses would be to trade off their veterans and start a massive rebuild. Can’t do that, according to Yahoo Sports Greg Wyshynski, who writes that Detroit is in a tough situation compared to other teams. One key to the way general managers use no-trade clauses is how they are utilized and with all of their no-trade clauses, the team will be hamstrung for many years.

Holland and the Red Wings have given full no-trade clauses to Justin Abdelkader, who has three more years of a no-trade clause before it becomes a modified trade clause, but the 30-year-old is locked up for another six years. Gustav Nyquist has a full no-trade clause for the two years remaining on his contract. Darren Helm also has a full no-trade clause through next season, although that can be voided beyond that if he fails to be among the team’s top-nine forwards or if the team doesn’t make the playoffs. However, again, he has a four-year deal. Four defensemen have full no-trade clauses, including Mike Green, Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson and newly signed Trevor Daley. Other than Green, all of them possess full no-trade clauses for the next year, but eventually turn into modified no-trade clauses in 2018-19 or later. To make matters even more difficult, Detroit also has three players with modified no-trade clauses, including Frans Nielsen, Niklas Kronwall and goaltender Jimmy Howard, that will only make a rebuild more challenging for the Red Wings.

Perhaps the biggest problem, according to Wyshynski, is that seven of the 10 no-trade clauses are in the hands of players that are 30 or older and whether there was a need to give one this offseason to Daley, who many viewed as a questionable acquisition in the first place, let alone that they gave him a two years worth of a full no-trade clause to go with his three-year, $9.5MM contract at age 33.

While some no trade clauses are unavoidable and even necessary to get a player to sign on the dotted line, it’s critical to know when to offer one and when not to. Wyshynski uses the Minnesota Wild as an example of a team who has six no-trade clauses on their roster and used them wisely. They handed ones out to Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Ryan Suter, where they were critical in negotiations and are franchise-type players. They used one on veteran Eric Staal to convince him to come to Minnesota last year, which worked out quite well. Finally, defenseman Jared Spurgeon and goaltender Devan Dubnyk each received modified no-trade clauses, but again, both are key pieces to the team’s success. That’s how it should be done.

The question is, how long will it take for Detroit to recover from these long-term contracts with all these no-trade clauses in place. Of course, after the Daley deal, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Detroit has learned from its mistakes anyway.

Snapshots: Vegas Defensemen, Howard, Severson

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Although it would appear that the Golden Knights have too many defensemen on their roster at the moment, it doesn’t appear that GM George McPhee thinks that’s the case.  Speaking with Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, McPhee noted that he’s happy with the quantity of blueliners they currently have:

“We’re at a manageable number right now.  We’re pretty close to where we want to be and we’re comfortable with the roster we have.”

At the moment, Vegas has ten defenders that figure to be in their plans for next season plus Brad Hunt who is on a one-way contract but could be AHL-bound.  Even if they only carried the minimum 12 forwards, they would still only be able to have nine rearguards on their opening roster so while McPhee believes their number is currently manageable, that’s likely to change once training camp rolls around.

More from around the NHL:

  • The Red Wings are hoping to cap Jimmy Howard’s workload somewhere between 50-55 games next season, goalie coach Jeff Salajko told Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. That falls in line with the recent trend around the league that most teams are starting to follow that sees the starter rest a bit more often in the hopes of keeping them fresher down the stretch.  Detroit is fortunate enough to have Petr Mrazek, who has handled a large workload himself at times over the past couple of seasons, still in the mix while Salajko noted that they’re comfortable with Jared Coreau, who got into 14 games with the Wings this past season, as a second or third option as well.
  • Defenseman Damon Severson is the most prominent of the nine remaining restricted free agents that the Devils have. Andrew Gross of Fire and Ice looks at some comparable players on both long-and-short-term contracts and projects that New Jersey will ultimately opt for a bridge deal.  From a financial standpoint, the team has the flexibility to go long-term if they so desire as they sit more than $19MM under the salary cap as things stand per CapFriendly.

Detroit’s Contract Pitfalls

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Detroit is currently dealing with one of the more contentious RFA negotiations in recent memory, as Tomas Tatar has refused a multi-year deal and is not happy with the franchise’s perception of him. The team also needs to negotiate a new contract for Andreas Athanasiou, a speedy center with flashy hands and a lot of upside. The major problem, however, is the cap space with which GM Ken Holland has to operate.

Detroit’s perilous situation is bizarre primarily because it has been largely self-inflicted, and unnecessarily so. The team already has an under-performing and vastly overpaid defensive group, but decided to bring in declining veteran Trevor Daley to a $3.17 MM, three-year deal. This places the team with $2.28 MM left in cap space while still needing to lock up Athanasiou and Tatar. It should be noted that 37 year-old Johan Franzen has been on long-term injured reserve since 2015, so they should be able to allocate his $3.95 MM salary to that reserve upon resumption of the season. Considering the apparently lax interpretation of the off-season rules, this effectively allows Holland $6.23 MM left to sign his two players. Theoretically, it could be enough, but in reality money will need to move out.

Tatar turned down a 5-year deal worth $5 MM per season, according to Michigan Live’s Ansar Khan. If that AAV isn’t enough, which it appears not to be, Holland is in a bit of a bind. Tatar was their only player to break 20 goals (25), and finished third on the team in points behind only Henrik Zetterberg and Gustav Nyquist. His offensive capabilities are pretty essential to a team hurting so badly for consistent production. Tatar wants his $6 MM, and there’s a good chance he’ll get it. Holland could try to deal Tatar before his arbitration date, but the return might not be as productive as Holland would like. If the parties do go to arbitration, Tatar will only need to sign for one season, which would almost assure his eventual departure.

Athanasiou will come cheaper and likely on a shorter term. If Holland can secure the player for under $2 MM, it would be a boon. The wiser move would be to try to extend the player on a longer deal in hopes that he becomes a bargain in the near future. Unfortunately, with the Tatar situation taking precedence, it seems an unlikely scenario. Even still, his measly $2 MM would put the Wings over the cap ceiling, even with Franzen on LTIR. So who would be on the outs?

Petr Mrazek was almost lost to the Vegas Golden Knights through the expansion draft, and with Jared Coreau playing stellar in the Grand Rapids, he seems the most likely candidate to move. He only costs $4 MM and after his down season, Holland would like to give Jimmy Howard the reigns back. Unfortunately, the Mrazek “attitude” rumors may have lessened his trade value. Perhaps even more importantly, the goaltending carousel has ground to a halt, with essentially every team securing a starter for the coming year.

Justin Abdelkader is on a really poor contract, complete with a no-trade clause, worth $4.25 MM AAV for the next six seasons. After a seven goal season, however, there won’t be many teams chomping at the bit for his services. Darren Helm didn’t fare much better offensively, but with a $3.85 MM contract and only four years on his deal, he’s not entirely unmovable. Again, he has a no-trade clause to complicate matters. There are the defensemen, such as Jonathan Ericsson, but with three years left and already declining at 33, he would also net little in return. Luke Glendening is an interesting option, as he is the cheapest of this group. Despite his two-way prowess, a forward with 3 goals in a season, even at a mere $1.8 MM, will still be a tough sell.

Ultimately, the Wings have overpaid a number of players and the contracts are for far too long. The amount of no-trade clauses handed out is an absurd hindrance when a team is trying to rebuild or retool. With 8 players on the roster with some sort of movement-limiting clause, Holland has few options to give himself relief. The worst case scenario would be to lose Tatar, but the team has truly painted itself into a corner regardless of who is shipped out. With an aging defense and an uninspiring offense, the Wings’ return to relevance will only be delayed from here on in.

Snapshots: Kostin, Toninato, Mrazek

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The drama that is Dynamo Moscow continued today, with the team releasing most of their players due to unpaid wages going back almost a year. The new owners would not honor those debts, and instead have given freedom to the vast majority of their players. One of those players is Klim Kostin, the 31st overall pick at the draft and St. Louis Blues prospect.

Kostin is now free to sign an entry-level deal with the Blues, and already attended their development camp last week. At camp, Kostin turned many heads and has an outside shot of even playing in the NHL this season. More likely, he’ll head to the AHL next season after expressing that he will not suit up for Kootenay of the CHL. Interestingly, St. Louis doesn’t have a primary AHL affiliate this season, meaning Kostin would either go to the Chicago Wolves (Vegas Golden Knights) or somewhere else around the league.

  • According to Zach Schneider of KBJR 6 in Minnesota, Toronto Maple Leafs’ draft pick Dominic Toninato will not sign with the team and instead become a free agent in August. Toninato finished his senior season at the University of the Minnesota-Duluth and needs to sign somewhere, but the Maple Leafs are close to their contract limit and couldn’t fit him in. Should he not be able to find an ELC somewhere around the league, there is always the possibility the Maple Leafs could circle back and sign him to an AHL contract.
  • There has been much speculation about the Detroit Red Wings’ goaltending situation, as they once again have an expensive duo of Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek heading into the season. While the team doesn’t really need both in a rebuilding season, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press tells us they currently plan on heading into the year with both in tow. That means you’ll likely hear their names bandied about near the trade deadline once again, if any teams find themselves needing goaltending.

Mrazek Exposed Due To “Attitude”

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In one of the more surprising exposures of an action-packed Sunday, Petr Mrazek was left un-shielded by the Red Wings in favor of his senior backup Jimmy Howard. The reason why is even more surprising.

Howard ($5.292 MM) earns more than Mrazek (4.0 MM), and has an extra year on his contract. More shocking is the difference in age – Howard is 33 whereas Mrazek is only 25, still young for a goaltender in development. Howard has started far fewer games the last two seasons, only 24 in 2016-17. He did perform statistically well and rebounded with a .927 save percentage, whilst Mrazek posted a .908. Still, when Mrazek was on the list of those exposed, many assumed Detroit GM Ken Holland had negotiated a side-deal with Vegas to protect the tender. Not the case, apparently.

According to Holland, “I’m not spending any future assets to hang onto players”, which is as cut-and-dry a response as we’ve seen. Ansar Khan of Michigan Live states that the Wings passed on Mrazek in their expansion list due to a combination of “performance and attitude”. He even went so far as to claim that Mrazek is believed by some in the organization to be “too cocky for his own good”. The article even mentions Mrazek’s alleged unhappiness with the inability of Holland to trade Howard after the 2015-16 season.

Mrazek certainly had a better season in 2015-16, and contract negotiations did drag on for quite some time before the parties settled on a two-year deal. Mrazek was one of the most surprising goalies in that year, helping sneak the team in for their 25th consecutive playoff berth behind a mediocre defense. At the age of 23, it looked certain that the era of Howard in Hockeytown was nearing a close. After his pitfalls through 50 starts last season, management obviously decided that risking Mrazek would not hurt the team in a sizable way. If any trades were attempted to deal Mrazek, they were apparently quite unsuccessful.

Regardless of how toxic the relationship between the parties is, these sentiments might scare Vegas off of placing a claim. They certainly have a plethora of other options available around the league to tend net or flip for picks. Detroit certainly won’t be hurting for goaltending now that Jared Coreau has led the Grand Rapids Griffins to an AHL championship and is ready for prime-time. But if off-ice issues truly are a concern, and Vegas doesn’t select Mrazek, Detroit could have a very tense situation on their hands next season.

Atlantic Division Offers Scoring, Depth Players

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The Atlantic Division was arguably the weakest in the league, but Vegas should be happy to know that they can claim two previous 30-goal scorers from the group. Some teams offer very little, such as Buffalo, because of their lack of depth, and Toronto, because of good planning. But others, such as Montreal and Detroit, will provide interesting options at multiple positions.

The Boston Bruins have one of the weakest lists of the lot, but there are still a few names which could help the Golden Knights organization. Vegas could opt for the overpaid but serviceable Matt Beleskey in hopes of his return to form as a solid 3rd-line piece. They might instead select a defenseman, either the puck possession defender in Colin Miller or physical presence in Adam McQuaid – but there may be better defenseman available elsewhere. A very probable scenario is that they opt for a project player in defenseman Joe Morrow or goalie Malcolm Subban. The Toronto Maple Leafs probably released one of the best lists today. Veteran Brooks Laich is an option, but McPhee may opt for 25 year-old Martin Marincin in hopes that he can build upon his last two seasons. Neither loss would impact the team’s ascendance in the slightest. Something to keep an eye out for is the perennially injured Joffrey Lupul – it’s certainly possible GM Lou Lamoriello will use Vegas to take his contract off the books. It wouldn’t take much of a sweetener.

The Montreal Canadiens left veteran defenseman Alexei Emelin exposed, which some predicted – but it could still set their defense back in the short-term. GM Marc Bergevin did well to utilize that final forward protection spot, trading for Jonathan Drouin and locking him up long-term. A potential player to watch is Alexander Radulov and whether Vegas will pursue the unrestricted free agent in the next few days. They do have a head-start, and he would be a potent addition. The Detroit Red Wings made what I consider to be a very surprising move in exposing goalie Petr Mrazek over Jimmy Howard. It could pay dividends if Vegas opts to go in a different goaltending direction, but it seems quite likely they will go the best player available route. Xavier Ouellet is also left exposed, which could decimate their defensive hopes. Unfortunately for Wings fans, Ken Holland very well will pay extortion-level prices for not being more aggressive in the trade market when he had the opportunity.

The Ottawa Senators will contribute one of the top three players to Vegas, regardless of his very hefty $7 MM contract. Bobby Ryan is bound for Nevada unless something unforeseen happens – he’s a former 30 goal scorer, is coming off a hot playoff, and an overpaid contract won’t break this team off the start. They could opt to speak with Mike Condon or go the less expensive route and take the veteran Marc Methot, but neither seems likely. Losing Ryan might hurt the Senators’ depth in the short term but is a solid cap-centric decision. The Buffalo Sabres will not lose much at all. Vegas could take a chance on the surprisingly available young forward William Carrier, or claim an average defenseman in Josh Gorges or Zach Bogosian. Vegas fans who were banking on a Tyler Ennis jersey will have to re-think their potential first purchase.

The Florida teams took completely different approaches to their expansion lists, and its clear that Tampa took the wiser route. Although they lost Jonathan Drouin, they re-couped a solid defenseman and made certain they didn’t lose an asset for nothing. Instead of losing Vladislav Namestnikov, they will instead look to probably surrender one of Cedric Paquette or J.T. Brown. There are a lot of mid-tier options available for Vegas, and I wouldn’t count out Cory Conacher as a darkhorse UFA signing considering his dominant performance in the Calder Cup playoffs. The Florida Panthers produced an inexcusably bad list. They will almost certainly lose their top scorer by not protecting the undersized Jonathan Marchessault. He had a breakout season with 30 goals in 75 games and his loss up front could really sting next season. Also of note is the decision to leave Roberto Luongo unprotected, although nothing likely will come of it.

Ultimately, the Atlantic division has a few players that will provide offensive punch to the Golden Knights, and a couple interesting decisions. McPhee could opt for safer veteran options, or take some gambles – only time will tell.

 

The original article had mistakenly replaced Collin Miller’s name on the protection list with Kevan Miller.

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