Red Wings general manager finally gets it right in huge trade with Anaheim

Oh, the Detroit Red Wings, and more importantly, Steve Yzerman, finally made a move, acquiring netminder John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks. The Wings were a team that desperately needed a goalie, hoping to solve the woes that've plagued them in the crease for a while. Now, they have much-needed stability with Gibson coming to Hockeytown - something I saw coming a few days back.

So, what did the Red Wings give up to acquire Gibson? Petr Mrazek and a couple of future draft picks, which Frank Seravalli confirmed shortly after the NHL universe freed itself from the half-decade of Gibson trade rumors.

This marks the second time the Wings have taken full advantage of the Ducks during a trade. As you might remember last season, Detroit sent ill-fated netminder Ville Husso to Anaheim for ten cents and a nail. But still, the Wings didn't have to deal with what was left of his contract.

John Gibson brings talent and experience to the Detroit Red Wings

Last season, Gibson took on the No. 2 role in Southern California, and he looked stellar despite losing the starting job to Lukas Dostal. But still, Gibson was an older player, and the Ducks were a team in a full-on rebuild. A team looking to get younger, so swapping out Gibson for Dostal made sense.

While Gibson didn't look great for a few seasons in Anaheim, he also dealt with a terrible hockey team. You can claim Gibson did the league's most thankless job for a while until Detroit's former division rival, the Chicago Blackhawks, decided to tank.

Anyway, last season, Gibson finished a lucky 11-11-2, while snagging a 0.911 save percentage and a 2.77 GAA. That erased years of toil behind a hopeless Ducks team, but even a Dominik Hasek in his prime couldn't have saved the situation in SoCal over the past few years. Anyway, enough about Gibson and more about Steve Yzerman.

Steve Yzerman actually made a huge trade for once

Goodness, it only took Steve Yzerman nearly two full calendar years to make another big trade, and one that could work wonders for the franchise. Rolling with Cam Talbot and Petr Mrazek would've made my stomach turn, and Sebastian Cossa proved in the AHL Playoffs that he wasn't ready for the big time just yet.

Enter John Gibson, who'd seen just about every form of bad hockey imaginable in Anaheim , only to redeem himself last season. And it showed us that no, Gibson wasn't the problem. The team was. Luckily for Gibson, he's finally playing behind a halfway decent team.

So, hats off to Steve Yzerman for making the right call here. And now, it's up to Gibson to take advantage of a situation that might finally land him in the playoffs if he stays on form.

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