Derek Lalonde's plan for Detroit Red Wings' Ville Husso: 'No. 1 (goalie) workload'
TRAVERSE CITY — Ville Husso spent the offseason in Detroit training to stay on top of his game.
In his second year with the Detroit Red Wings, the 28-year-old Finn enters as the No. 1 goaltender, a job he had to earn last season. He finished 2022-23 having played in a career-high 55 games, posting a 2.93 goals-against average and .904 save percentage, returning from a mid-March injury to play five games in April. Husso struggled in the second half, but pushing through to return to action proved something to him and the team.
"I started really good last year," Husso said. "I think that’s the one thing I want to take for this year as well. And then at the end, I think I wasn’t on a level that I wanted to be and needed to be, so that’s something that I want to improve this year. But the start of the year was good and I just want to have a good start this year, as well."
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The Wings brought in Husso during the 2022 offseason to tandem with Alex Nedeljkovic. The two alternated starts when the season began, but within a month, Husso pulled away, emerging as the No. 1. General manager Steve Yzerman made changes in net again during this offseason, adding James Reimer and Alex Lyon to the depth chart. But Husso's credentials put him on top.
"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. Reimer will also get multiple starts (teams often switch goalies halfway through exhibition games), as will 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.
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Husso knows keeping the No. 1 job is up to him.
"I still have to work hard and go a game at a time," he said "I can’t get ahead of what’s happening at Christmas, or whatever. I have to go a game at a time and focus for the next practice, the next game."
While Lyon, 30, joined the organization after a standout year playing 15 games with the Florida Panthers, along with four playoff appearances, Reimer, 35, has been handling a regular workload in the league since 2010, logging 476 games.
"Reims and Lyon, they are both great guys," Husso said. "It’s nice to have Reims especially, he’s an older guy, he’s been in the league a long time and still working so hard every day. It’s nice to see that and hopefully I can get some little tips from him. He works so hard, he’s a true pro. Every day he’s pretty much the first guy at the rink and last guy to leave. So, it’s nice to see that he still wants to get better. Same for Lyon, he’s a good pro as well. Hopefully we can all challenge each other in a good way."
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon,Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
For (preseason) openers: Penguins
Matchup: Red Wings (35-37-10 in 2022-23) vs. Pittsburgh (40-31-11 in 2022-23), exhibition opener.
Faceoff: 7 p.m. Tuesday; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit Extra; no radio.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings: Ville Husso will carry No. 1 goaltender workload
