Connect with us

Detroit Red Wings

Husso’s Health Still Concerns Red Wings

Detroit goalie hasn’t played a full NHL game since mid-December

Published

3 weeks ago

on

Ville Husso, Red Wings
Red Wings goalie Ville Husso most recently played a full NHL game in December of last year.

On the one hand, the Detroit Red Wings are hopeful that Ville Husso’s injury woes will be a thing of the past.

“The most important thing with Ville is being healthy, and he feels 100 percent, he feels healthy,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said.

At the same time, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman is a pragmatic realist. He recognizes the fact that Husso’s most recent 60-minute game in the NHL came on December 14 of last year. And the reason for Husso’s lengthy absence from his puck stopping duties was a lower-body injury.

A netminder’s legs are his bread and butter. Without a healthy pair of them, he’s toast.

DHN colleague Kevin Allen recently went into great detail about the excitement within the organization for goaltending prospects Sebastian Cossa, Trey Augustine and Carter Gylander. So that fact might lead you to wonder why the team would go out over the summer and double the number of NHL-experienced netminders it has under contract. The Red Wings were adding unrestricted free agents Cam Talbot and Jack Campbell to returnees Husso and Alex Lyon.

Can Red Wings Count On Husso?

The reason for acquiring such goaltending depth, quite frankly, is because they simply don’t know whether they can count on Husso. Yzerman frankly admits this to be a legitimate concern.

“Yeah, significantly, honestly,” Yzerman said. “You go into a season with your two goaltenders, and a guy you’re projecting to play a lot is unhealthy. It’s a huge hole to fill at the start of the season.

“So we decided we’re gonna go get another goaltender. And we’ll let training camp go through we’ll see how Ville’s health is and and then make a decision at some point.”

Husso thought he was healthy enough to play twice last season. When he was returning to action at Edmonton on February 13, his night ended before the nine-minute mark of the first period.

His next attempt at a comeback was on a rehab assignment with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins. Husso didn’t make it through the pre-game warmup.

So forgive the Red Wings hockey operations staff for taking reports of Husso’s return to health with the proverbial grain of salt.

“It’s too bad last year on the injuries because he had a really good offseason,” Lalonde recalled of the team’s 2023 training camp. “He came in leaner, probably had his best summer he’s had off the ice. So I think it’s something he can build on.

“The good thing about Ville is he’s also excited about the competition. Credit to our management group. With three goalies last year it’s very unique to the league. It’s certainly not ideal in some situations, when you talk about practice time, obviously game time. But it literally saved our season last year.

“I think we’re going to start with that same mentality this year.”

Related Topics: