Red Wings need to steer clear of pursuing Henrik Lundqvist
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Red Wings might consider signing Henrik Lundqvist, but they should steer clear of this to avoid another Jimmy Howard scenario.
As the Detroit Red Wings continue to push through their offseason, they have to address specific needs. One of those needs being the addition of a goaltender to play alongside Jonathan Bernier as the battery mate.
The New York Rangers have just bought out Henrik Lundqvist, making him a free agent; this means the Red Wings could possibly target him to fill the goaltending gap they need to. This sounds like a wonderful idea off the rip, but in reality, it has disaster written all over it.
While Lundqvist is parting ways with the Rangers organization after fifteen years, he would ideally be looking to play for a contender. In case it was not clear, the Red Wings are not one of those teams and should try to bring in one of the many goaltenders.
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Adding into the goaltending tandem will be a necessity this offseason, in some form or another.
But the former Vezina Trophy winner is not worth it.
If for some reason, the Red Wings are going to pursue Lundqvist, it might end up in a similar situation to 2019-20.
In 2019-20, the Red Wings had to deal with the corpse of Jimmy Howard, who struggled the entire season, posting a 2-23-2 record with a 4.20 goals-against average (GAA) and a .882 save percentage (SV%) in route to a horrific season.
To put it nicely, no one wants to watch that again. It was awful to watch Howard deteriorate in 2019-20. Watching it happen to Lundqvist, even at a lesser rate, would be just as unpleasant for Red Wings fans.
Given that it has not been great for Henrik Lundqvist in New York, the Detroit Red Wings need to steer clear.
In New York, Lundqvist played in 30 games, making 26 starts with a 10-12-3 record while posting a 3.16 GAA and a .905 SV% for the Rangers. He is 37 years old, heading into his age 38 season, and on the free-agent market.
If the Red Wings are going to sign a goaltender like Lundqvist, they should be prepared for him to be a shadow of what he once was. Inevitably he would be better for the Red Wings than Howard was, but the losses would likely outweigh the wins.
Relying on Bernier to be the starter in 2020-21 is not going to work, and Lundqvist is not the answer for the Red Wings’ goaltending situation. Let Lundqvist sign with the Colorado Avalance or maybe even the Washington Capitals and try to win a Stanley Cup with them.
The Red Wings will have to be smart this offseason, and singing Lundqvist is not an intelligent move. Even with tons of cap space for a signing like that, it just does not fit what the organization should be trying to do this offseason.
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If Yzerman is going to start building and architecting a future competitor, money spent on Lundqvist (if he even considers non-competitors) would be a waste. Let him sign with a playoff team and have a chance at his ring.