They say a little competition never hurts anyone.
Well, the Detroit Red Wings have some competition over one position that will leave someone with at least some hurt feelings. The ripple effect of this season's trade deadline will be felt for a long time.
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The Red Wings currently operate with what people in the industry call a "three-headed monster." This three-headed monster refers to a team with three goaltenders and rotates through all of them for the remaining games.
Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon, and Petr Mrazek are the three heads of the Red Wings monster.
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It's the final countdown.
While it's true that every team could do this, the biggest question on the minds of Red Wings fans is, why? Why is this the season to operate like this? What benefit does this three-headed monster provide to the team that makes it superior to the traditional configuration?
Regardless of how the rest of the 2024-25 season plays out, I think it signals the end of one goalie's career in Detroit. Mrazek and Talbot are both signed through the 2025-26 season, while Lyon's contract expires this summer.
It's certainly possible that the Red Wings buck the traditional route and opt to roster a three-goalie rotation after this season. Part of the decision-making process (probably) hinges on the success of that rotation over the remainder of the games this season.
The one team that has had some success in this way is the Carolina Hurricanes. They did this during the COVID bubble season, which was shortened to 56 games. During that season, they ran with the trio of Alex Nedeljkovic, James Reimer, and Mrazek.
All three goalies performed very well, in no small part due to the successful defensive-minded system that the Hurricanes employ. Their strategy makes things easier on their goaltenders. Reimer and Nedeljkovic shared the bulk of starts with 21 and 23 starts, respectively. If that duo operated as a 1A and 1B, Mrazek was the 2. The former only started in 12 games that year.
All of their numbers that season were great. The Hurricanes allowed the 8th-least shots per game (28.2) and were tied in 4th for the least amount of goals allowed (134).
Could something like that work in Detroit? The Red Wings would need to deploy a strong defensive game that decreases the workload on their goaltenders.
Most teams haven't operated in this fashion for an extended period. It's safe to suggest that the trade for Mrazek was the beginning of the end of Lyon's tenure with the Red Wings once the team hits the fairways. They already got rid of one goalie on an expiring deal, so it wouldn't be surprising for them to let another one go.
However, we will never truly know until the opening day of next season what the goaltending situation will be like moving beyond this year.
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