MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses Jimmy Howard’s 2018-19 season outlook this morning:
2018-19 outlook: Howard started strong last season but lacked consistency from mid-November until the end of the season. If he stays healthy, he’s in line for another heavy workload, possibly 50-plus games. But he’ll be pushed for playing time by veteran free-agent signee Jonathan Bernier.
Howard’s performance will determine whether he earns another contract from the Red Wings. If he plays well, they’ll likely re-sign him to a short-term deal (two years). It’ll be a few years before any of their prospects (Filip Larsson, Keith Petruzzelli, Joren Van Pottelberghe, Kaden Fulcher) is ready to challenge for an NHL roster spot.
If Howard doesn’t perform well enough, he could be shopped at the trade deadline if there is a market for him.
Such “detroit red wings” thinking from Khan.
If he plays well, we’ll keep him.
If he struggles, we’ll trade him.
What kind of thinking is this?
How about – if he plays well, we trade him and maximize the assets we get out of a 34 year old goalie nearing the end of his career?
Keeping Howard seems like a good idea for the long term. He’s capable of playing well enough to keep the team in games but he won’t be winning too many games by himself. This buys the team time for another goalie in the system to “arrive”. Right now, I don’t have much confidence in who the next RW goalie will be after Jimmy but that guy is at least 3 years from making the team….as a back up.
The Wing’s only option if they trade Jimmy is to sign another UFA who will probably be…….34 years old.