Detroit Red Wings: Setting high, medium and low bars for Ville Husso

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Medium Bar – Detroit Red Wings starter, Ville Husso, evolves into an above-average starter.

Given how Husso’s game collapsed after 40 games a year ago, it’s tough to imagine a likely scenario where the netminder plays too much more than that in 2023-24. It’s also worth considering that 40 starts were his magic number in 2021-22 while in St. Louis, where he received Vezina Trophy votes for his work with the Blues.

There exists the possibility, however, that Husso finds a new gear via training this summer and develops the endurance needed to appear in more contests while maintaining overall competence. The days of the workhorse No. 1 are slowly going the way of “the enforcer,” but in 2022-23, 21 goalies started more than 45 games, and 17 of those appeared in 50 or more—including Husso.

If he could nudge his way toward this stratosphere again while maintaining his counting stats from last year’s first 40 outings, that’d represent a pretty significant step forward for the player. It’s not outside the realm of possibility at all, but the Detroit Red Wings clearly aren’t counting on Husso to play 56 times again. James Reimer can handle a lot of action and might very well be aiming to steal the starting job for himself.

If Husso can fight that challenge off and secure this kind of the lion’s share while also posting respectable 5-on-5 numbers, that’d be stellar development for Detroit.