The Detroit Red Wings can and must make a big trade for a goaltender this offseason. Names like Juuse Saros would surely get hockey fans in the Motor City excited after the team just missed out on the top eight and the playoffs this past season. But there is also another name out there who is flying under the radar, and that name is Filip Gustavsson.
You may vaguely remember Gustavsson as being part of the Atlantic Division in the past, as he was once a member of the Ottawa Senators. But after 27 games in Canada’s capital, the Sens moved him to the Minneapolis-St. Paul region in a trade for Cam Talbot before he ultimately signed on for another three seasons with the Wild.
Overall, Gustavsson’s time in Minnesota has been up and down, but he’s played well enough to where if he were traded this summer, a goaltender-needy team like Detroit should hesitate little to bring him over if they can work out a deal.
Red Wings could break back into the playoffs with Filip Gustavsson
While it’s unclear whether Filip Gustavsson is a true 1A or if he factors better as a 1B, it is clear that he could give the Wings more hope than James Reimer or Ville Husso. He would have a great tag team partner in Alex Lyon, while Reimer would walk in free agency, and Husso can also go elsewhere via trade.
Sure, Husso was supposed to be the star heading into the 2024 offseason, but after two years of struggles that saw him log just a 3.22 GAA and an 0.895 save percentage, reality should sink in: Husso isn’t the franchise goaltender capable of leading the Red Wings back to the playoffs for the first time in forever.
Filip Gustavsson played a major role in helping the Wild make an appearance in 2023, and that could easily become the case with the Wings if Steve Yzerman tried and managed to trade for him. But what makes Gustavsson an ideal addition to Detroit?