Jimmy Howard to move on from Red Wings, explore free agency
It appears the Detroit Red Wings will have to look for a new goaltender for the 2020-21 campaign.
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, Jimmy Howard will be moving on from the Red Wings after spending his entire 14-year career with the club. While the 36-year-old isn't retiring, he might not receive a starting role with another club.
Howard was on a one-year deal with Detroit worth up to $5.1 million. The Red Wings now will rely on Jonathan Bernier and have to seek out another goaltender in free agency.
Braden Holtby, Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom, Anton Khudobin and Corey Crawford are among the top available goaltenders. The Red Wings will have about $15 million in cap space this offseason to work with, which is plenty of room to make a move for a goaltender.
Howard has played 543 regular-season games for the Red Wings, going 246-196-70 in 523 career starts. He owns a 2.62 goals-against average and .912 save percentage. However, he hasn't been good as of late. This season, the netminder went 2-23-2 with a 4.20 GAA and .882 SV%.
Howard led the Red Wings to the postseason in every season from the 2009-10 campaign through the 2015-16 season.
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