Red Wings Goaltending: Howard vs Mrazek

By Ryan Ritchie | Oct 10, 2015

The Detroit Red Wings goaltending situation gets less complicated with each Jimmy Howard performance. On Friday night, Detroit opened the season at home against Toronto winning 4-0 in the process. Justin Abdelkader netted himself a hat-trick, as Jimmy Howard stopped all 22 shots on route to his 21st career shutout.

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It was a bit of a surprise move by new bench boss Jeff Blashill to go with Howard to open the season. The Red Wings goaltending situation saw a changing of the guards towards the end of 2014-15. Howard played 53 games that included 23 wins 2.44 GAA and .910 save %.

Petr Mrazek appeared 29 times in the regular season which saw 16 wins 2.38 GAA and .918 save %. Mrazek stepped in late January-early February to replace an injured Jimmy Howard and never looked back. Mrazek played 7 playoff games and saw 3 wins 2.11 GAA and .925 save %. Stats courtesy of Hockeydb.com

Heading into the season, the Red Wings goaltending situation looked as though Petr Mrazek might cement himself as starter for Detroit. And there’s a good chance he still could. But would it really be a bad thing if this tandem were led by Jimmy Howard once again? I’d like to explain why two performing Red Wings netminders has major benefits:

Jimmy Howard carries a $5,291,666 salary and cap hit through 2018-19, that includes a no-trade clause that expires after 2017-18. Petr Mrazek holds a $737,500 cap hit and becomes a restricted free-agent next summer.

Scenario #1

Petr Mrazek leads the Detroit Red Wings goaltending in 2015-16 and plays the majority of games.

End Result:

Petr Mrazek would go into contract talks being able to use players such as Jimmy Howard ($5.29 mil), Cory Schneider ($6.0), Ryan Miller ($6.0), and Mike Smith ($5.66). There’s a few others but these are the comparables an agent is going to use to get the most for his client.

I would imagine Mrazek walks away in the $4.5-$5.5 mil range in this scenario. The only other team dedicating that much to two goaltenders is the Dallas Stars with Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. It would be surprising if the two can co-exist longer than one season.

The end result here would be asking Jimmy Howard to waive his no-trade clause and look for a trade partner willing to absorb his lucrative cap hit. If he’s relegated to a backup role, that could be a difficult sell. This would be the worst Red Wings goaltending scenario that could play out.

Scenario #2

By the end of 2015-16, the starts between Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek are split relatively close.

End Result:

For this scenario to occur, both Howard and Mrazek would need to put up marginally good performances. It looks like Jeff Blashill is going to ride the hot hand. If neither is exceptional, this would be the end result.

Mrazek’s comparable’s in contract talks with this situation would be Ondrej Pavelec ($3.9 mil), Karri Ramo ($.3.8) at the high end but that might be a stretch. Detroit management would probably use Anton Khudobin ($2.25 mil) or James Reimer ($2.3 mil) as a comparable.

The number would probably end up in the $3-$3.5 mil at the end of talks. $8 to $9 million paid to two goalies is still a pretty high number. The two could co-exist with a ton of minor leaguers scratching at the door with their entry level contracts. It would also open up a trade door for either goalie. Potentially making Jimmy Howard a more valuable asset.

Scenario #3

Jimmy Howard takes back the reigns as starter and plays the majority of games.

End Result:

Petr Mrazek would step into contract talks and only have backups as comparables to earn a new contract. In this situation, I’d imagine Mrazek would walk out in the $1.75-$3 mil range.

It doesn’t necessarily mean Mrazek would have a bad season persay. But if Jimmy Howard plays the majority of games, it doesn’t leave much to work with for Mrazek’s agent.

Each scenario either opens up or limits the options Detroit Red Wings management will have moving forward.

#2 does create the most trade value for both netminders. But #3 is the best from a business standpoint because it is the cheapest and easiest route to keeping both goaltenders.

It would be greatly beneficial for Detroit to find a way for these two men to co-exist with one-another. However, if Mrazek continues to push Howard aside in 2015-16, the Red Wings goaltending situation could get very messy.

Could the Red Wings convince Jimmy Howard to waive his no-trade clause, if necessary? And if he did, would Detroit even be able to find a trade partner?

I think this will be one of the more intriguing story-lines to watch as the NHL season continues.

Next: Robin Lehner Replacement Options

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