Former Red Wings goaltender looking to parlay his sound cameo into a full-time role

There are some players you just can’t help but root for, even if they didn’t stick with your organization long-term. For some of these players, it’s because they could have fulfilled a team need, or for others, they’re journeymen who just won’t give up, and are so close, yet so far from catching on. For Detroit Red Wings fans, that player may be Magnus Hellberg. 

A couple days ago, Hellberg found his latest landing spot, this time with the Dallas Stars. Should he stick around and become more than just organizational depth, it would be a great story of persistence for a player who has seen the NHL ice with five different organizations dating back to 2013-14 when he appeared in one game with the Nashville Predators. 

One reason this may be significant for Red Wings fans stems from the fact Hellberg has played more NHL games in the Motor City than he had anywhere else, making 18 appearances overall and 14 starts. 

Former Red Wings goaltender Magnus Hellberg has shown potential

Unfortunately, Hellberg wasn’t great throughout his time in Detroit, where in 2022-23, he played in 17 games and logged 13 starts, (his other game and start with Detroit came in 2021-22) finishing the year 4-8-1. He also struggled with a 3.29 GAA, a 0.385 quality starts percentage, and an 0.885 save percentage. 

But this past season, as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, we saw a different kind of Magnus Hellberg take center stage when he recorded a 2.50 GAA and a 0.922 save percentage in three games and one start. It wasn’t much to go on, but it could only take those few good games to turn things around for the longtime organizational depth piece. 

It won’t be long until we find out whether Hellberg has what it takes to remain in Dallas, with training camp and the preseason right around the corner. Should he stick around and be Jake Oettinger’s backup, Hellberg could set a career-high in single-season appearances, but he must beat out Casey DeSmith and Remi Poirier to earn that right.