A Dumb Project: Ranking All the Red Wings since 2018-2019

[Grand Moff Larkin]

I chose that year because it’s after Datsyuk and Zetterberg had gone and the rebuild was fully underway. Yzerman was hired after this season.

They’ve had sixteen goalies since then, which is honestly fewer than I anticipated.

Vibes: Positive

John Gibson (36, .905)
A smaller sample size than I would like, but his play in the last two months is the best goaltending the Wings have gotten during this era. He has four shutouts during that time, whereas Bernier had two total as a Wing. They’ve had encouraging stretches before, like Lyon’s hot run, and Gibson is the beneficiary of a much better defense than the Wings had prior to this season, but he’s also got them in the top 10 in the league in February.

Jonathan Bernier (102, .908)
Bernier was remarkably solid during some exceptionally lean years. Maybe he cost them draft odds, but that’s what he was in net to do! I felt bad that he only played ten games after they moved on from him. Seemed like a solid, quiet dude.

Alex Lyon (74, .901)
My favorite human of all the goalies from this era, a loveable weirdo (the cat Halloween costume), Lyon had a stretch that almost got the Wings in the playoffs his first year. He wasn’t as consistent his second year (his GAA went up but his SV% went down, odd) and given how he’s done in Buffalo, there’s a little remorse about letting him move on.

Jimmy Howard (82,.900)
The last two years of Howard’s generally solid career. He was an All Star the first year, but dealt with injuries in his last years and Was Not Good.

Cam Talbot (71, .898)
It’s a little tough to slot Talbot because he hasn’t been quite as good as Gibson / Bernier / Lyon and he does best with a 50/50 split. But he’s never seemed like a guaranteed loss and he’s a good team guy.

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Vibes: Fine

Sebastian Cossa (1, .857)
He’s played one NHL game, coming on in relief and winning in OT. He’s been great in GR this season and it’s hard not to see him coming up next year to back up Gibson.

Petr Mrazek (5, 902)
Not sure what’s harder to fathom: that Yzerman brought back Mrazek (at the deadline!) or that the Ducks took him back in the Gibson trade. He was fine this time around until he got hurt.

Vibes: Frustrating

Alex Nedeljkovic (74, .900)
Ned started out great in Detroit and seemed like a solid roll of the dice, but the questions about his ability to handle a full season workload were valid. He struggled in the back half of his first year and was esssentially unplayable for a long stretch in his second year. He didn’t appreciate sitting and I get that, but if you’re going to talk a big game you gotta back it up.

Ville Husso (84, .894)
Husso seemed like a solid guy to target and started out pretty well, but injuries derailed any chance he had of becoming more than a platoon dude. Didn’t whine about playing time, didn’t gripe about being sent down to GR, so I give him credit there. But his injuries made a three-goalie rotation necessary for a few years.

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Vibes: Forgettable

Michael Hutchinson (1, .917)
He lost his one game as a Wing but didn’t have a terrible save percentage. Good for him?

Magnus Hellberg (18, .884)
I’m amazed he had any wins in the uniform. Very much felt like “here’s an AHL goalie for the night, good luck.”

Eric Comrie (3, .864)
He was claimed off waivers and almost immediately got claimed off of them again. A competent-ish NHL backup for Winnipeg but he wasn’t especially good in Detroit.

Calvin Pickard (12, .853)
Another guy I’m a little surprised got a longer-term job after his Wings stint. Goalies are voodoo and all but he’s an NHL/AHL tweener and Edmonton relying on him as a backup and occasional starter in a Finals run is mind blowing.

Kaden Fulcher (1 game, .818)
His one NHL game, mostly an ECHL guy. Congrats on making it to the show.

Vibes: Fuck this guy

Thomas Greiss (65, .901)
His bad politics certainly sway his placement, given that his stats aren’t terrible, but I can’t remember ever feeling fondness for the Greiss experience.

James Reimer (25, .904)
Aside from being anti-Pride, the defining play in Reimer’s time in Detroit was ducking out of the way of Stooter’s OT winner. He’s a coward on and off the ice.

[Grand Moff Larkin]

Defensemen and forwards are going to take a lot longer.