The Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings have connected on a goaltending trade. Both teams have announced that the Ducks have acquired netminder Ville Husso from the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations. Anaheim confirmed that Husso will report to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.
Although netminder John Gibson had recently succumbed to an upper-body injury, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman confirmed that wasn’t Anaheim’s motivation for the trade. Gibson’s recovery timeline is still considered day-to-day with no reports indicating otherwise.
It appears Husso will remain in the same role as he had with Detroit this season. The former seventh-place finisher in Vezina Trophy voting (2021-22) has been deployed as a third-string option for the Red Wings this year albeit an expensive one.
That’s likely behind Detroit’s motivation for the trade. Although Husso is only owed around $1.3MM in actual salary for the remainder of the regular season, the move clears approximately $3.5MM from the Red Wings’ salary cap table giving them plenty of flexibility for next Friday’s trade deadline should they look to acquire additional talent.
Despite opening up a decent chunk of cap space, this couldn’t have been the future general manager Steve Yzerman sought for Husso when he acquired the netminder from the St. Louis Blues for a third-round pick in 2022. The year before donning the winged wheel for the first time, Husso posted a 25-7-6 record with a .919 save percentage and 2.56 goals-against average in 38 starts for St. Louis.
Largely due to a poorer defense in front of him after he transitioned to the Red Wings, Husso failed to replicate his stellar play from the 2021-22 campaign. Throughout two and a half seasons in Detroit, Husso will finish his Red Wings tenure with a 36-32-11 record in 82 starts with a .892 SV%, 3.26 GAA, and a horrid -25.6 goals saved above average according to Hockey Reference.
Yzerman lost faith in Husso before this season, sending the Finnish netminder through waivers in early October. In his first multi-game stay in the AHL, Husso has managed an 8-4-0 record in 13 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins, along with a .912 SV% and 2.70 GAA.
He’ll join a tandem in San Diego who could use serious improvement. The combination of Oscar Dansk and Calle Clang has given the Gulls an average of .885 SV% and 3.46 GAA, and the latter is expected to be out with a longer-term injury. Should Husso continue the solid play he displayed with the Griffins this season, San Diego may have a fighting chance at playoff positioning down the stretch.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the trade.