The Free Press’s Helene St. James’ morning-posted article discusses Ville Husso’s workload and status as the Red Wings’ de-facto #1 goaltender going into tonight’s exhibition game vs. Pittsburgh (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit Extra):
“We think highly of Ville,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “When I talked about him being a No. 1, we’re going to give him a No. 1 workload. In an ideal world, we’d love to give him anywhere between 56 to 58 starts. But, we’ll keep evaluating that as the season goes on.”
The Wings start an eight-game exhibition slate tonight when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lalonde said that, “our first priority is giving NHL goalies looks to be ready, then there’s opportunity for development and growth.” It’s a bit tricky the second week of preseason, when the Wings play three straight games, but Husso should be able to get into around four games, and at least play one full one. [James] Reimer will also get multiple starts (teams often switch goalies halfway through exhibition games), as will [Alex] Lyon.
“We want both to get some good opportunities and looks in the exhibition,” Lalonde said. “James’ body of work is a lot more extensive, but full trust on Alex. A good job from our management team of just adding depth at every position.”
Last season the Wings “overused” Husso, to use Lalonde’s term, because both Nedeljkovic and the other backup they tried, Magnus Hellberg, struggled to provide consistently strong goaltending. The hope is that Reimer and Lyon mean the Wings won’t be in that position again, allowing them to be smart about how they use Husso — no back-to-backs, and making sure he gets breaks both physically and mentally.
