Alex Lyon close to returning leaving Ville Husso's future with Detroit in doubt

The Detroit Red Wings will need to make a decision on veteran goaltender Ville Husso in the next day or two. Husso, 29, was placed on waivers after allowing four goals on 14 shots on opening night before giving way to veteran Cam Talbot early on in the second period.

The Finnish-born netminder cleared waivers and joined the Grand Rapids Griffins, where he performed well in limited opportunities before being recalled to Detroit on an emergency basis. Husso started the second of a back-to-back for the Red Wings over the weekend against the Rangers and again didn't fare well, allowing three goals on 23 shots in a 4-0 loss.

First off, a description of the rule.

Roster Emergency Exception. In the event that (i) a Club has Payroll Room less than the sum of the Minimum Paragraph 1 NHL Salary and $100,000 (i.e., that Club’s Averaged Club Salary is greater than the Upper Limit minus the Minimum Paragraph 1 NHL Salary minus $100,000); (ii) a Player on such Club becomes unfit or unable to play (i.e., is injured, ill or disabled and unable to perform his duties as a hockey Player) or is suspended; (iii) such Club is unable to sign and/or Recall a Player with an Averaged Amount equal to the Minimum Paragraph 1 NHL Salary plus $100,000 under the Bona Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Exception; (iv) as a result of such Player being unfit or unable to play or suspended and the Club having Payroll Room less than the sum of the Minimum Paragraph 1 NHL Salary and $100,000, the Club has fewer than eighteen (18) skaters and two (2) goalies (“18 and 2”) on its Playing Roster (pursuant to Section 16.4(c)); and (v) the Club played its previous game with fewer than 18 and 2 (a “Roster Emergency”), then such Club may, beginning with the second game and continuing with all subsequent games and without any charge to the Club’s Averaged Club Salary for the duration of such Roster Emergency, add to its Playing Roster the requisite number of “emergency replacement” Player(s), provided, however, that (i) each such Player may not have an Averaged Amount that is more than the then-applicable Minimum Paragraph 1 NHL Salary plus $100,000 (e.g., $625,000 in 2012-13); and (ii) each such Player may only remain on that Club’s Active Roster during the period of the “Roster Emergency.”

Now, in English, teams can call up players under emergency conditions when they no longer have enough healthy players at a specific position. So, if a team doesn't have 12 healthy forwards or six healthy defensemen available, they are allowed to recall a player at the position without the said player needing to clear waivers and can perform above the salary cap until the injured player is ready to return.

Alex Lyon is close to returning to the Detroit Red Wings lineup

Lyon, 31, was a tremendous story for the Detroit Red Wings last season. Over the second half of the season, he solidified the goaltending position, nearly guiding the organization to its first playoff berth in eight years. You know how it finished, but in case you live under a rock, Detroit missed out on the playoffs by a point, losing the tie-breaker to the Washington Capitals.

This summer, Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman replaced veteran James Reimer with fellow free agent Cam Talbot. Talbot has had a very good career posting a 0.914 save percentage and 2.63 goals against average over 495 career NHL games. And that combination of Talbot and Lyon has been excellent this season for the Red Wings.

Lyon has posted a 2.78 goals-against average and a 0.916 save percentage in six games this season for the Red Wings. The veteran journeyman is excited to return. "You just want to be safe and cautious and take the right steps and making sure everything is copacetic," Lyon said. "But I'm good to go, and I felt really good at practice. I'm looking forward to getting back to the net again."

Lalonde hints toward Husso being sent back to Grand Rapids. "Cam and even Alex were playing at a pretty high, consistent level," Lalonde said. "So, ideally, we'd probably like to get Alex back in.

As for Husso, he's a pending free agent and barring some miracle will not return to the Red Wings following this season. He's firmly their third option (for the time being). Top prospects Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine are both expected to climb the organization goaltending-ladder over the next couple of seasons.