Ville Husso Makes Claim to Starter's Net with Strong Pre-Season

Ville Husso began his pre-season with plenty to prove and ended having made the most persuasive case, on pre-season performance alone, toward being the Red Wings' starter in net come Thursday and the regular season opener.

Husso played two full games in net during Detroit's eight-game pre-season run.  In the first, he made 43 saves on 44 shots in a victory in Pittsburgh.  It might not have been a full-on NHL lineup, but it featured Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.  Then, last night in Toronto, against a full strength Maple Leaf lineup (featuring the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander) with an AHL-heavy skater group in front of him, Husso made 30 saves on 33 shots.

If you were to evaluate the Red Wings' goaltender battle on the merits of pre-season action alone, it would be hard to argue that either of Alex Lyon or Cam Talbot staked a more persuasive claim than did Husso.  And that's probably a good thing, as Husso had arguably the most to prove after last year's disappointment.

Of course, there is also more (reputation and history, contractual concerns, etc.) to consider than just pre-season performance in determining who should start and alo the opening night starter has minimal bearing on who finishes the year as the number one goaltender.

On the most recent episode of The Silky Mitten State, Connor Earegood and I discussed this dynamic.  Check it out in the featured video above, then listen to the full show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts:

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