One of general manager Steve Yzerman's top tasks as he retools the Detroit Red Wings is to acquire a goaltender.
Jonathan Bernier enters the 2020-21 season � whenever that may be � as the presumptive starter. When the NHL shut down March 12 because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Bernier's record was 15-22-3 with a 2.95 goals-against average and .907 save percentage. He was the team's most valuable player since mid-December, posting a 2.72 GAA and .915 save percentage in his last 25 games.
Bernier, 31, started 16 of the Wings' last 19 games, and appeared in 18 of them because Jimmy Howard was pulled in his last two starts.
Howard, 36, was signed to a one-year extension last season by then-general manager Ken Holland with the mindset that if Howard played well, he'd be back for another season. That won't happen � Howard, 36, struggled in 2019-20: 2-23-2 with a 4.20 GAA and .882 save percentage.
There isn't anybody in the system ready to spell Bernier. Calvin Pickard, signed by Yzerman last summer to serve as a third-string goalie, appeared in three games with the Wings, posting a 5.46 GAA and .797 save percentage. None of the prospects are remotely close to ready for NHL action � Filip Larsson, 21, considered the organization's top goalie prospect last summer, struggled so much his first year of pro hockey he spent more games (10, posting a 2.72 GAA and .910 save percentage) with Toledo in the ECHL than with Grand Rapids (seven, posting a 4.01 GAA and .843 save percentage) in the AHL.
Yzerman could look at trading for a goaltender, but the players he has that would interest another team are key parts of the rebuild. A more likely option is to use free agency.
Braden Holtby, who backstopped the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup championship in 2018, headlines the list of goalies who are eligible to become unrestricted free agents this offseason. Holtby was selected in the fourth round of the 2008 draft, when the Wings wasted their first-round pick on goalie Tom McCollum, who played a grand total of three NHL games.
Holtby may not be interested in joining a rebuilding team though, and he also will want more than the Wings likely are interested in spending (he's coming off a $6.1 million cap hit). Robin Lehner, another of the bigger fish expected to be available, is coming off a $5 million deal and also seems out of the Wings' range.
Here are more realistic options.
