Oh, the Detroit Red Wings have a strange one brewing following what should’ve been a celebratory win over the Utah Hockey Club. Yeah, the upside is that the Wings are back on track, but as I mentioned earlier, you need to put an asterisk beside that.
Anyway, the Wings, in that same win against Utah, added a chapter to one of the league’s weirdest controversies. A controversy I didn’t even see coming back when I refused to outright ridicule it a few weeks back.
That controversy won’t resolve itself until at least the summer, but even that’s one giant ‘maybe.’ But first, what is the issue here and why is it so unwinnable? I’ll give you a hint regarding the latter: It’s unwinnable because there’s no solid long-term solution.
Win over the Utah Hockey Club didn’t come without brewing controversy
While the 5-1 win on the surface looked like a well-played game in all facets, it was one of the sloppier matchups you’ll see this season. Neither team controlled the puck well, and they gave it away an eye-opening 44 times combined.
Adding to the madness was the fact goaltender Petr Mrazek left the game early after recording just one save on one shot on goal. Alex Lyon, unceremoniously dropped to the No. 3 role in the lineup following that recent trade with the Chicago Blackhawks that brought Mrazek to town, came in and stopped 16 of 17 shots.
It was Lyon’s first appearance in the Red Wings net since March 6th, ironically vs. Utah, and his best outing since March 4th. While Lyon struggled in recent games, and that could’ve paved the way for Mrazek’s return to Hockeytown, he’s still enjoyed a strong season with the Wings.
Hello, unwinnable goaltender controversy…should this continue…
Okay, here’s the problem: Alex Lyon is in the final season of his contract, while Petr Mrazek and Cam Talbot are both slated to return in 2025-26. This indicates the Wings will have an aging, patchwork duo at goaltender next season.
But Lyon appears to have gotten lost in the mix despite a 0.901 save percentage, a 2.70 GAA, a shutout, and a 0.545 quality starts percentage. These aren’t record-breaking numbers, but until that relatively poor stretch recently, they weren’t bad. Then again, is Lyon really someone you want in the net often?
Not when you realize it took him until his age-30 season to figure out how to stick to an NHL roster. Lyon will enter his age-33 season in 2025-26 and is the youngest of this trio, and the Red Wings aren’t signing him to a long-term deal should they decide to keep him around.
As for Mrazek and Talbot, neither are carrying a team on their backs at this stage of their respective careers, so the Red Wings are in danger of having a gaping hole at netminder heading into next season. Yeah, there’s Sebastian Cossa and Trey Augustine, so the future looks bright and they could be long-term fixtures.
But in the immediate future, is there an answer? Right now, Lyon’s performance and Mrazek’s injury may have sent this thing into a triple-threat match. One involving three short-term solutions whose productivity isn’t off the charts these days.
It’s an issue that the Red Wings need to solve with some real talent with long-term potential this offseason if they don’t believe Cossa is ready. In a best-case scenario, Cossa comes up, dominates, and takes on a 1A role. Other than that, this situation’s unwinnable.