Detroit Red Wings Must Avoid 'Luongo-Schneider 2.0' Drama with Howard, Mrazek

With all of the conversation regarding the Detroit Red Wings' coaching situation, the Wings' goaltending situation and subsequent problem has somewhat fallen by the wayside.

The Wings' attempt to replace Mike Babcock this offseason—Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports that the team is close to signing Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Jeff Blashill as early as Tuesday—has taken obvious precedence over the team's goaltending issues, which could turn into substantial problems if not dealt with promptly.

Having two NHL goalies is a great problem to have—sometimes.

Jim Mone/Associated Press/Associated Press

In the case of the Red Wings with Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek, however, the Wings must learn from the curious case of the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks had two No. 1 goaltenders in Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo and ended up trading away both of them after a plentiful amount of scrutiny and speculation from media and fans.

Likewise, the Wings saw upstart goaltender Mrazek take all of the playoff starts from previous No. 1 goaltender Jimmy Howard. 

Howard has four years left on his deal at just under $5.3 million per season, according to Spotrac, and will be difficult to trade, despite an All-Star-caliber start to the season, because he has seen his goals-against average rise to over 2.50 and save percentage fall to just .910 over the past two seasons. The Hockey Chat wondered about other teams' interest in Howard:

"

Will the Oilers or Sabres make a push for Jimmy Howard? #NHL

— The Hockey Chat (@TheHockeyChat) May 4, 2015"

Whether fans like it or not, though, and despite his seemingly declining statistics, Jimmy Howard should be the starting goalie next season for a number of reasons.

First, the Wings are stuck with his cap hit for at least the foreseeable future because he also has a "no move" clause, according to Spotrac. This means that Howard controls where he will play going forward. If he wants it to be in a Red Wings uniform (even if he is riding the pine behind Mrazek potentially), that is his prerogative.

If the Wings paid him to be a No. 1 goalie, why not give him the benefit of a doubt, because he has played well when healthy and only faltered after an injury and trying to regain his form in midseason.

Secondly, Howard has the higher aforementioned cap hit than Mrazek. Because of this, teams will not touch Howard with a 10-foot pole until he proves that he can carry a team for the bulk of a season, returning to his All-Star-caliber form, and also exorcise his playoff demons of years gone by.

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press/Associated Press/Associated Press

No team wants a goalie who seems to be faltering in what would normally be the prime of a career (Howard is just 31 years old). But injuries derailed what was looking like a promising first half of the season, opening the door for Mrazek to start in the playoffs. Brendan Savage of MLive.com reported that Howard will not ask to be traded:

In order to avoid a low market for Howard, Detroit needs to play him as a starting goalie and increase the market for potential buyers by showing that he is still a capable starting goalie for the duration of his contract.

Thirdly, Howard has the experience in the regular season and has a substantial amount of experience in the playoffs as well. While this seems to be a non-factor going forward, keep in mind that Mrazek has played just 40 career NHL playoff and regular-season games.

Think of Mrazek sort of as a Jonathan Bernier type when Bernier was with the Los Angeles Kings before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was highly valued but also inexperienced because he had to try to steal games from Jonathan Quick. Mrazek looks better than Bernier did in Los Angeles, but he still has some holes in his game to work on, and what better place for him to work on those holes than behind a No. 1 goalie like Jimmy Howard.

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press/Associated Press/Associated Press

Mrazek's time will come, and likely come soon, but the Wings' management needs to be the one driving the bus on this decision and lay down the line before the season starts and the media and fan conversations pick up again.

Finally, and going off the previous point, the Wings want to avoid having a locker room distraction or worse, such as was the case with Roberto Luongo in Vancouver prior to Luongo getting traded to the Florida Panthers in March 2014.

What ever needs to be done with or said to Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard, respectively, before the season starts needs to happen well before training camp gets underway so that it doesn't become an issue during next season.

All statistics courtesy of NHL.com unless otherwise noted.