Steve Yzerman pulled a fast one last summer, using some of his draft capital to strengthen the Detroit Red Wings in net.
Goaltenders are an especially valuable commodity, and in spending a third-round pick to acquire Ville Husso from the St. Louis Blues, Yzerman avoided getting into a bidding war five days before Husso would have become an unrestricted free agent. The year before, Yzerman had done something similar in using a third-round pick to trade for Alex Nedeljkovic (though he was a restricted free agent).
Nedeljkovic’s contract is up this summer, and after a subpar season (5-7-2, 3.53 goals-against average and .895 save percentage), the Wings are once again in the position of needing to add a goaltender. Magnus Hellberg, who was claimed off waivers in November because of Nedeljkovic’s struggles, had his own issues (4-8-1, 3.29, .885) with consistency. Both are pending UFAs.
KIND OF BLUE: How Red Wings’ look has been colored, for the better, by influx of St. Louis Blues
RED, WHITE & BLUE: What Andrew Copp wants to prove in his second year with Red Wings
It’s possible Nedeljkovic could return for another year; he played better down the stretch this season after a stint in the minors. But here are three options who could prove more enticing as the Wings look for someone to share the net wit Husso.
Joonas Korpisalo
Korpisalo (6 feet 3, 193 pounds) is 94-81-15 with a 3.01 GAA and .904 save percentage in 221 career NHL games, spent mostly spent with the Columbus Blue Jackets until this past trade deadline, when the 29-year-old was acquired by the Los Angeles Kings. Korpisalo was pulled in Game 5 of the Kings’ first-round series with the Edmonton Oilers, but in the first four games, he had a .918 save percentage. Korpisalo — like Husso, a Finn — signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract extension last May. The Kings have goalies Cal Petersen and Pheonix Copley under contract through next season. Korpisalo could still be re-signed, but if he hits free agency, he presents a strong option for the Wings.
Alex Lyon
Lyon (6-1, 201) started the first three games of the Florida Panthers’ first-round series against the Boston Bruins. Sergei Bobrovsky, the Panthers’ $10 million goalie (he signed a seven-year, $70-million contract on July 1, 2019) was dealing with an illness, and Lyon, a 30-year-old who spent most of his career in the minor leagues, got the nod on the strength of going 6-1-1 with a 1.87 GAA and .943 save percentage down the stretch run of the regular season. Lyon posted a 3.26 GAA and .902 save percentage in his first three playoff games, but the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins make it hard on goaltenders in general. (Bobrovsky replaced Lyon in Game 3 and started the next three games, and has a 4.40 GAA with a .883 save percentage.) Lyon is 16-11-5 with a 3.05 GAA and .904 save percentage in 39 career NHL games. That’s not much of a body of work, but on a short-term deal, he could present a solid solution.
Antti Raanta
Raanta (6-0, 195) is 127-73-27 with a 2.43 GAA and .918 save percentage in 253 career games spent with four teams, most recently the Carolina Hurricanes. The 33-year-old Finn signed a two-year, $4 million contract with the Hurricanes in July 2021. In the playoffs Raanta was 3-2 with a .906 save percentage after starting the first five games of the Canes’ first-round series against the New York Islanders, after going 19-3-3 with a .910 save percentage during the regular season. A short-term deal could make sense, because Raanta brings solid experience in net.
The pipeline
The Wings need an experienced goaltender for the Grand Rapids Griffins, too. They gave Jussi Olkinuara a shot last fall, but he was so dismal (3.75 GAA, .868 save percentage in 15 AHL games) the sides mutually agreed to part ways in February. Sebastian Cossa is supposed to be the goaltender of the future, but he spent the majority of last season in the ECHL with the Toledo Walleye (2.56 GAA, .913 save percentage in 46 games); the next step for him is the AHL. The Wings selected the 6-6 Cossa at No. 15 in 2021, trading up to make him the first goalie picked in that draft. Jesper Wallstedt had been projected to be the first goalie selected; he went at No. 20 and spent this past season posting a 2.68 GAA in 38 games with the Minnesota Wild’s AHL team. The Wings passed on 6-7 goalie Mads Søgaard in 2019, taking defenseman Antti Tuomisto at No. 35, but Søgaard has made the Senators look good for taking him two spots later, as he already has played 21 NHL games (and one of his nine victories came against the Wings). Bottom line: There’s no one on the depth chart ready to help the Wings as soon as 2023-24.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.