NHL Trade Rumors: Top 5 goaltenders available at trade deadline
2. Jimmy Howard
The Detroit Red Wings have a good chance of picking up some nice assets at the trade deadline thanks to two pending free agents. Gustav Nyquist will get them something, likely a second-round pick. Possibly even a first rounder if they play their cards right. Their most valuable piece, however, could be Jimmy Howard.
He’s the best available goaltender who doesn’t have the power to decide where he goes (or if he wants to go). It’s likely the Red Wings will re-sign in the offseason. After all, they don’t have a future option in house and Howard’s been at worst reliable for them during his career. But the Red Wings would be silly if they didn’t trade him as a rental.
Must Read. 3 Teams Who Should Trade For Howard. light
Howard would immediately upgrade just about any team’s situation in net. He’s better than most backups and even some starters on contending teams. This season, Howard’s having one of his finest seasons. In 31 starts, he has 20 quality starts, which is good for a quality start percentage of .645. Howard keeps the Red Wings in games they don’t deserve to win. Imagine what he’d do on a contender.
Moreover, Howard has only two really bad starts, which proves how reliable he has been this season on an otherwise unimpressive Red Wings team. He’d be most valuable on a team like the Flames, who could use a reliable option behind David “Big Save Dave” Rittich.