Detroit Red Wings 2017-18 Player Profiles: Petr Mrazek

The Detroit Red Wings goaltender will look to come back with a stellar season after a rough 2016-17 campaign.

Petr Mrazek is out to prove why he deserves to be the Red Wings no.1 option in net this season. The Czech goaltender is coming off of a less than stellar season and was left unprotected for the Expansion Draft.

Player Info

Position: G

Jersey Number: 34

Age: 25

Home Country: Czech Republic

Career Outlook

Mrazek has worked his way up the ranks in the Red Wings organization quite quickly. During the 2012-13 season, he made his debut for the Toledo Walleye, Grand Rapids Griffins, and the Red Wings in the same season.

The Griffins would go on to win the Calder Cup title that season and Mrazek was an instrumental part in the American Hockey League sides success.

He became a regular on the Wings team sheet starting in the 2014-15 season when he made his playoff debut. The following season saw him post a record of 27-16-6 in 54 games played.

In the summer of 2016, Mrazek signed a two-year contract extension.

Last Season

Things did not go as planned for Mrazek last season. After a stellar 2015-16 season he faltered and finished with a record of 18-21-9. In almost all stat categories he posted career worst numbers for his NHL career.

Jimmy Howard was injured during the season but he started the majority of the final stretch of games towards the end of the season. As a result, Mrazek saw a decrease in playing time and the hope he would be the answer in net for the organization began to be questioned.

Fast forward to the summer and Mrazek is somewhat surprisingly left off of the protected player list for the Expansion Draft.

Looking Ahead

Mrazek will certainly be motivated coming into the 2017-18 season. He needs to prove he is the best man for the job in net for the Wings. We should see a very focused and driven player in the first few games of the season. However, the real question will be how his play and attitude will affect his relationship with the coaching staff.

An important thing to remember is that Mrazek has only had two seasons with 50 or more appearances in his NHL career. He still has a long way to go in his career and the jury shouldn’t be out on him just yet.

He has shown glimpses of great potential at times and this season could show similar results to what he showed during the 2015-16 season.