The Free Press’s Helene St. James wrote her early morning-published missive for the day, and in today’s column, she discusses the Red Wings’ rationale for acquiring goaltender Ville Husso from the St. Louis Blues:
“There’s a not a lot of goalies out there, and we need depth at that position,” [Red Wings GM Steve] Yzerman said Friday. “We thought it a worthwhile decision to make. We elected to use a draft pick to try and improve. We certainly liked the season that Ville had.”
Husso appeared in 40 games with the St. Louis Blues last season, posting a 25-7-6 record with a 2.56 goals-against average, a 0.916 save percentage and two shutouts.
Immediately after trading for Husso, 27, the Wings signed him for three years, $14.25 million. Alex Nedeljkovic, 26, who was acquired last summer, is under contract through 2022-23 for $3 million. Essentially Yzerman created a situation where the Wings have two goaltenders of similar age with a combined salary cap hit below $8 million.
“It doesn’t prevent us signing at some point extending Ned’s contract at all,” Yzerman said. “We’re in a position to do that. We’ve got two guys we feel can play in the league and based on albeit somewhat of a limited action in the NHL, both guys have shown they can win games.”
Continued (paywall); one former St. Louis Blue is particularly excited that Husso’s coming to Detroit:
Welcome Husssss!!! Can’t wait to play with you again my friend!! https://t.co/HhkumIvL0q— Oskar Sundqvist (@sundqvist32) July 9, 2022
Update: Via Ilta-Sanomat in Finland, Husso took to Instagram to thank Blues fans on Friday night:
