while its certainly not the best deal, howard has been the best player on the roster this year. the number of odd man rushes this team gives up a game is embarrassing. even the last year or two with lidstrom, the team was still below average in their defensive coverage. this year, with many young and inexperienced defensemen in front of him, howard has kept the wings in games. unfortunately, traditional stats do howard little justice as there legitimately is a difference in the scoring chances he faces compared to what the wings used to give up in their heyday of great system hockey with mediocre goalies.
and split, there was never a time where gustavsson was even considered the number 1 goalie in detroit.
regardless of all that, it still makes me nervous signing a goalie to a long term deal. you can count on your hand the number of legit top end goalies that can stay at that level for more than a few seasons.
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