Ville Husso has reappeared on the Detroit Red Wings’ radar, and that could squeeze out a guy looking for an extension.
The Wings came into this week saying Husso likely was done for the season — there’s only two weeks left — because of a nagging injury, but by midweek, he was on the ice, sharing the net in practice and working extra time with goaltending coach Alex Westlund.
“Ville is back in the mix,” head coach Derek Lalonde said. “He got some opinions on where his lower-body injury is at. We want to get him back into the rhythm and hopefully he can in some games.”
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Husso has played 51 games, 11 more than his previous season high. He was scheduled to start March 23 against the St. Louis Blues, but nagging pain forced him out of the lineup, and led the Wings to call up last season’s starter, Alex Nedeljkovic.
Husso’s absence was an opportunity for Nedeljkovic, who is on an expiring contract, to show the struggles that landed him in the minors are in the past. Likewise, Magnus Hellberg, who was brought in to serve as Husso’s backup after the team lost confidence in Nedeljkovic, is also trying to show he should be the one to stay past this season.
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It had looked like Nedeljkovic and Hellberg would share the net as the Wings close out their schedule, with Lalonde saying whoever has the hot hand will get start the next game. But after seeing multiple specialists, Husso felt reassured that what bothered him won’t get worse.
“It’s been there for a little bit,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure it was nothing major. Just take care of the body. It was a good week to rest.
“I’m happy to be back. Hopefully, I will play if all the practices go well and Newsy and the staff want to put me in.”
An argument could have been made for shutting down Husso, 28, for the season. He has been the team’s MVP, posting a 25-19-6 record with a .899 save percentage and 3.01 goals-against average. Those numbers on their own don’t dazzle, but Husso largely has given his teammates a chance to win, and there were multiple nights they didn’t give him much help in return.
Husso shrugged when asked if playing more games than he is used to played into his injury.
“It could be part of it, but as a goalie you want to play as many games as you can. But you don’t want to deal with injuries, so I’m happy to be back,” he said.
The Wings acquired Husso from the Blues for a third-round pick last summer, and then signed him to a three-year, $14.25 million deal.
When he was unavailable, Nedeljkovic was called up under emergency conditions. The Wings could opt to keep Nedeljkovic if Husso is cleared to play by making it a regular call-up, because they have the roster space to carry three goaltenders. Hellberg seemed to have made a case for being the one to get an extension, but Nedeljkovic played well his first two starts, and he’s got 100 NHL games on his resume to Hellberg’s 21.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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