In the 2017-18 season, the Detroit Red Wings made the wrongful decision to trade away Petr Mrazek and keeping Jimmy Howard.
On February 19, 2018, the Detroit Red Wings decided to trade goaltender Petr Mrazek and keep veteran goaltender Jimmy Howard. Trading the former was an ill-advised move which has left the team gambling on veteran goaltenders. Although Howard has been a decent goaltender for Detroit, he does not size up to the amount of potential Mrazek had to offer to the Red Wings.
At 34 years of age and on the last year of his contract, Howard is not a part of the Red Wings future. Statistically speaking, Howard finished the 2017-18 season with a .910 save percentage (tied for his fifth worst in his career) and a 2.85 goals against average (second worst in his career). To add more fuel to the flame, he had only 22 wins and a resounding 27 losses (the second season in a row where he has more losses than wins).
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Howard’s numbers are on a linear decline and are nowhere close to being at the elite level the Red Wings need. He is 34 years old, struggles with injuries and gets paid roughly $5 million dollars a season. Ultimately, Howard is a liability to his team. That is why for the 2018-19 season, the Red Wings plan to utilize recently acquired goalie Jonathan Bernier more often than Howard.
On the other hand, Mrazek is 26 years old and is full of potential. In his NHL career, Mrazek has a 2.66 goals against average and .911 save percentage. Although these numbers are not great, one must realize that a majority of these numbers come from a player who played on a Red Wings team that struggles tremendously defensively as of late.
With the Red Wings organization, Mrazek posted astounding numbers with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL. There, he earned All-Star recognition and helped the Griffins win the Calder Cup. With the Red Wings, Mrazek came through in clutch moments as shown through his playoff performances where he holds a career 1.98 goals against and a .927 save percentage.
Ultimately, the Red Wings traded Mrazek to the Philadelphia Flyers for a conditional draft pick. And recently, he was signed in the 2018 offseason by the Carolina Hurricanes to a one year, $1.5 million deal. With the Hurricanes, Mrazek will get a chance to be the starting goalie, leading the young Hurricanes team to success.
At the end of the day, the Wings chose to go with experience rather than youth and potential. This coming season will be very intriguing as to watching how Mrazek plays with his new team and how Howard rebounds after a couple of bad seasons.