Daily Faceoff’s Mike McKenna posted a list of potential training camp battles between goaltenders playing in the Eastern Conference, and he includes the Red Wings’ Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic in his mix:
DETROIT RED WINGS: Alex Nedeljkovic & Ville Husso: Two young NHL goaltenders gunning for the crease on an up-and-coming team like the Red Wings? Keep your eyes on Detroit because I think this will be a fun battle to keep track of.
Nedeljkovic is the incumbent and has one year remaining on his contract at $3 million. Husso is starting a three-year pact worth $4.75 million a year. So let’s not pretend that Husso isn’t going to get every chance to play the bulk of games.
I really like both netminders for different reasons. Nedeljkovic is an outstanding puckhandler while Husso plays with a ton of detail. Both have had successful runs in an NHL crease.
If everything goes as planned in training camp, Husso seems like the safe bet to grab the No. 1 role in Detroit. He won 25 games in 40 appearances for the St. Louis Blues last season.
But I expect the Red Wings to be better as a team than they were last year, and that should benefit Nedeljkovic. The 26 year old from Ohio is just one year removed from posting a .932 save percentage over 23 games for the Carolina Hurricanes.
I think Husso has the inside edge going into training camp. But the leash will be short. And Nedeljkovic will be hungry.
Continued; I really don’t know how things are going to play out, honestly…
