It's hard to remember the last time the Detroit Red Wings had competent goaltending.
You'd have to go all the way back to 2015-16 to find an answer. At that time, Petr Mrazek looked like the future. He finished the season with a .921 save percentage and a 2.33 goals against average. For a while, Mrazek looked like the real deal. Now, a decade later, he ended the 2025-26 season with a .858 save percentage and a 4.07 goals against average.
Time comes for every NHL player eventually.
But it is not yet here for John Gibson.
Why John Gibson performed so well
The Red Wings are only the second team Gibson has played for in his career. The other - the Anaheim Ducks - had him along for the ride for 12 seasons. Gibson played 57 games for the Red Wings in 2025-26. It was the first time in four seasons he hit the 50+ game threshold. This year, he secured a 29-22-0 record with a .901 save percentage and a 2.72 goals against average.
Now, you might be wondering why the headline suggests that Gibson is the best goaltender the Red Wings have had in a decade. Is it because there's more to the stats than meets the eye? Or is it because the Red Wings' goaltending over the last decade has been that bad?
The answer is a bit of both.
When a team goes through a rebuild like the Red Wings, they tend to cycle through goalies to find both short-term and long-term solutions. Guys like Thomas Greiss and Jonathan Bernier make up the former, while Alex Lyon and Ville Husso make up the latter. Some worked, while some did not.
Early on, Gibson looked like yet another temporary solution while the team awaited the future. But, as time went on, he built his confidence. He wound up finishing the season with four shutouts, tied for third in the NHL. His .901 save percentage looks low on paper, but this year had an uncharacteristically low save percentage across the league. Scott Wedgewood led the NHL with a .921 save percentage.
He would have been tied with Petr Mrazek in 2015-16 with those same numbers.
How Gibson fits long term
Gibson performed well above expectations this season. Yet, despite this, he struggled down the stretch along with the rest of the team. The blame cannot be put entirely on him, though. This was, again, the first time in four seasons he's been asked to play at such a heavy clip. Gibson had to go above and beyond because backup Cam Talbot struggled to take much of the workload.
That said, if the Red Wings are serious about making the playoffs next season, they need to find a way to help manage his workload.
John Gibson has one season left on his contract making $6.4M next season. As of right now, the plan appears to be giving Sebastian Cossa or Michal Postava a shot at the backup role, taking some of that heavy burden off Gibson's shoulders. By the time the 2026-27 season comes to an end, the hope is that Cossa or Postava show they're ready for a full-time NHL workload to let Gibson walk in free agency.
Gibson was brought in to serve as a temporary backstop, but it's clear he's still a great goaltender in his own right.
Grade: A-
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