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With the team falling behind in the standings, many Detroit fans want management to look to the future. According to an article from Craig Custance and reporting from Bob McKenzie on Twitter today, the team may be in a position to move on from Petr Mrazek.
Custance has an article in The Athletic that goes into detail on other teams asking about Mrazek.
There currently are teams in search of goaltending and there are not a lot of options on the market. According to an NHL source, multiple teams have contacted the Red Wings about trading Mrazek. And that’s despite the fact he’s played just four times in the last month and has a save percentage under .900.
Then, Bob McKenzie tweeted this:
For right deal, DET is willing to retain salary on Mrazek. He is final year of contract with AAV of $4M. RFA at season’s end but he’s almost certainly not going to get qualified. So may be UFA or signed to lower $ deal: https://t.co/aF1WZT4wpu
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) December 14, 2017
This isn’t very surprising. Like McKenzie says, I can’t see Detroit qualifying Mrazek, barring some huge second half turnaround. He hasn’t played that much, but he hasn’t shown enough in those outings to seize the reins from Howard.
If the team is not planning on keeping Mrazek here after this season, it’s a no-brainer to get something for him. The question will be “What does Detroit consider ‘the right deal’ as McKenzie calls it?