Detroit Red Wings: Adding Goaltender Calvin Pickard Breeds Competition

The Detroit Red Wings have made some minor signings as the 2019 free agency period has begun adding three players. Goaltender Calvin Pickard will offer backup netminder some competition for the backup role.

Free Agency began for the Detroit Red Wings when they announced that they would be signing goaltender Calvin Pickard to a two-year deal. The two-year agreement is structured to be a $700,000 AAV deal, which is currently unconfirmed. Pickard has not seen a consistent starting role for some time now, but he looks to offer some competition to the current backup, Jonathan Bernier.

Pickard appeared in seventeen games last year for the Philadelphia Flyers and Arizona Coyotes where he managed a 4-6-2 record. Alongside his record, he posted a .875 SV% and a 3.86 GAA for the Flyers and Coyotes. Over the course of his career, he has appeared in net, 104 times with a record of 32-50-9 and a .908 SV% and 2.93 GAA. Pickard has not exactly been the most solid of goalies, but in this case, he can be the backup for the next two years while we finish out the remainder of this rebuild.

The more likely scenario for Pickard will be that he will spend his time with the Grand Rapids Griffins where he will split time with our current-top goalie prospect, Filip Larsson. Pickard will not be likely to see a lot of NHL time, more likely spending his tenure as a fringe goalie while Larsson finishes preparation for his shot at being the face of Red Wings goaltending in the future. This is a safety net move by GM Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings, merely trying to maintain a situation where Larsson is still “our guy” in the future.

It would be dumb for the Detroit Red Wings to bring in a goaltender long-term with Larsson supposedly going to be ready within the near(ish) future, Pickard is basically playing stop-gap in case of injuries. Pickard will be the spot starter in the case that Howard goes down hurt and Bernier needs some rest or something of that nature. The signing was nothing to be super excited about unless you are a Larsson fan, then you can look forward to remembering he’s going to be the face of Red Wings goaltending sooner rather than later.

With free agency still kicking, look for the Red Wings to maybe add one more player, not a big name but another defenseman to add to the core, someone on a short-term deal. The more ideal scenario would be to let the young talent flourish, but it could result in the Red Wings adding another defenseman on a short-term deal to cap off the roster for this year.