Wings sign Howard to 2-year, $4.5M extension

[Echolalia 2,961]

This is a "show me what you can do" contract. Jimmy showed last year he has the potential to be a top 10 goalie in this league, but this year he's shown that he has problems on consistency. 2 year deal is nice and short, the cap hit is fair, but I'm seeing it as Holland just gave Jimmy two years to prove that he's worth a better contract when the time comes. Hopefully he takes his opportunity seriously.

[Datsyerberger 279]

Updating....

While you're doing so, tossing some numbers into the mix.

Starting goaltenders even with or behind Howard in SV%:

Kipper

Halak

S. Mason

Anderson

Brodeur

Elliot

That's not including goalies who play a 1A/1B role, such as:

Budaj

Turco

Khabibulin

Giggy

Gustavsson

Garon

Curiously, his GAA is below that of many of those names, but roughly even with Osgood. I'd suggest this is due in part to team play, and also due in part to inconsistency.

Meanwhile, he's t9 in games started (tied: Luongo, Vokoun) but 1st in wins, with only Thomas possibly having a better win %. I'd say this suggests one (or possibly both) of two things:

--Howard's 'goalie stats' are somewhat misleading in regards to his play.

--The Red Wings skaters are ******* dominant this year.

Either way, the combined complaints you see on here would have you think that the Red Wings were down with the Oilers, with all of our skaters except for Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, and Stuart being lazy floaters who farm stats off their teammates, and that our goaltending situation is so abysmal that if we had a real starter we'd be 55 and 7 for the season (with the 7 being the backup's games, because he wasn't good enough to steal a game for all those lazy floaters in front of him).

[HankthaTank 1,100]

Don't worry, I'm not getting bent out of shape

Cheers

Come on! It's deadline day!!!! SOOOOOO.........

[RedWingsRox 614]

Who's next on the number of wins for this season? And how much is he getting paid? I think we did good!

Edited February 28, 2011 by RedWingsRox

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Only if this signing comes with increased consistency on Jimmy's part is this a good deal. Especially with Conks and maybe Nabby available this summer.

I read that wrong and thought that you said Cooke.

[redwingcapt 52]

he leads the league in wins... isnt that what matters the most anyways? pretty sure last time you needed 16 wins to win the stanley cup, not 16 shutouts....

if you dont like it, get OUTTT

[syntax 359]

I read that wrong and thought that you said Cooke.

How about we sign Cooke as our backup goalie and string him up in the net every 5th game with no hockey gear on...for the rest of the league to shoot pucks at?

Works for me!

[VM1138 1,921]

It's not too outrageous. If he continues to be inconsistent it's not implausible that a team could take him and that salary off. We paid him enough to stay, but not enough to make him an albatross. Hope he can improve his consistency and his tendency to lay down on the ice whenever he sees the puck. I've never seen a goalie spend so much time falling over or flat on the ice on the first save.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

This is a good deal for both sides.

[Nevermind 363]

Good deal. Not too much, but enough to keep Howard happy.

Howard can just focus on hockey now. Maybe that will help out his consistency?

[Datsyerberger 279]

Goaltenders are a cocky bunch. I have to think that Howard probably thought that he either could have got more or should have been playing well enough to get more. This might be enough to light a fire under his ass and clamp down to make sure his next payday is a big one. He's got to realize that if he played close to as well this year as he did last year, he probably could have got closer to Halak money, or at least $3m/yr.

[LeftWinger 4,961]

Not a bad deal, considering what is out there..

..this just in, Holland made a deal on trade deadline day, he is quoted as saying "Jimmy Howard re-signing is our deadline acquisition...."

[Majsheppard 203]

Good deal. Not too much, but enough to keep Howard happy.

Howard can just focus on hockey now. Maybe that will help out his consistency?

Agreed, good deal.

Consistency? One can only hope.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

[Nightfall 871]

Goaltenders are a cocky bunch. I have to think that Howard probably thought that he either could have got more or should have been playing well enough to get more. This might be enough to light a fire under his ass and clamp down to make sure his next payday is a big one. He's got to realize that if he played close to as well this year as he did last year, he probably could have got closer to Halak money, or at least $3m/yr.

Either that or he took a hometown discount because he knew he could get more money elsewhere and loves it in Detroit. I prefer to think of it this way.

BTW, that avatar of yours is awesome!

Edited February 28, 2011 by Nightfall

[wingslogo19 281]

Good signing, not too much for him.. Jimmy is still young and hope he continues to play well

[JPT 26]

This deal is fine, maybe he's a little overpaid but the length of the deal makes it easily digestible.

For those thinking that this will help his consistency I would have thought being a young goaltender playing for a new deal would be motivation enough to buckle down and eliminate the glaring problems with his game. If not having a contract was an issue than Jimmy Howard is not a viable goalie.

[Nightfall 871]

Meanwhile, he's t9 in games started (tied: Luongo, Vokoun) but 1st in wins, with only Thomas possibly having a better win %. I'd say this suggests one (or possibly both) of two things:

--Howard's 'goalie stats' are somewhat misleading in regards to his play.

--The Red Wings skaters are ******* dominant this year.

I would add in another couple suggestions

--The defense in front of Howard really has not helped him out in some situations.

--Although they make mistakes, the defense in front of Howard does play better.

After watching how the defense plays worse than the Oilers defense in some periods, and then comes out and plays lights out in other periods, I really don't look too deeply into Howards stats. The stats of a goalie at this level is largely dependent upon the defense in front of him. Howard has the wins, but that is because of what you and I just mentioned. They are 2nd in goals scored, but their defense has not been as stellar at times.

As for consistency, it is very hard for a goalie to be consistent if the team defense is not consistent in front of him. Look at the goals that Buffalo scored last game. A breakaway and a 2 on 1 chance. Both of which Howard had zero chance on. When the D plays more consistent, then I will start looking deep into his stats.

[gcom007 1,465]

Good deal. Not being too overpaid even if the consistency issues remain. 2 years is a real good length after this season. Gives Howard more time to prove himself and the Wings flexibility if things don't go so well. I would've liked to have seen it done for a little less the way the playoffs and this regular season have gone, but this is a pretty reasonable deal all things considered. No one should be too unhappy with this.

I would add in another couple suggestions

--The defense in front of Howard really has not helped him out in some situations.

--Although they make mistakes, the defense in front of Howard does play better.

After watching how the defense plays worse than the Oilers defense in some periods, and then comes out and plays lights out in other periods, I really don't look too deeply into Howards stats. The stats of a goalie at this level is largely dependent upon the defense in front of him. Howard has the wins, but that is because of what you and I just mentioned. They are 2nd in goals scored, but their defense has not been as stellar at times.

As for consistency, it is very hard for a goalie to be consistent if the team defense is not consistent in front of him. Look at the goals that Buffalo scored last game. A breakaway and a 2 on 1 chance. Both of which Howard had zero chance on. When the D plays more consistent, then I will start looking deep into his stats.

The defense has been a mess since we last won the Cup. He dealt with the exact same problems last year but played far better to fight through them. He hasn't been as terrible as some suggest and the defense certainly doesn't help him most nights, but it would be absurd to suggest that he's played even remotely as well this season as he did last season, and the same could be said about his playoff performance last year. He's proven that he has the skills to be a shut down goalie, but he absolutely has not extended that play into the post-season or his 2nd NHL season. And that's exactly why he didn't get a longer contract worth more money per year.

As I've always said, I've got faith in him and I'm happy to have him signed, but we can't blame his issues on the defense when the defensive issues are nothing new at all.

[Frozen-Man 144]

This deal is fine, maybe he's a little overpaid but the length of the deal makes it easily digestible.

For those thinking that this will help his consistency I would have thought being a young goaltender playing for a new deal would be motivation enough to buckle down and eliminate the glaring problems with his game. If not having a contract was an issue than Jimmy Howard is not a viable goalie.

A lot of players have difficulty in their contract year, it is not a matter of motivation but rather of letting the contract get in his head, trying to do too much or taking it too hard when he makes a mistake.

[Rivalred 630]

Am I the only one who thinks this is a slight over payment by $250,000-$500,000 dollars?

[chrisdetroit 189]

Last in Save Percentage and Goals Against Average...Should have been 2mil or under, but I'm glad we got him re-signed. If he ever works on his rebounds and consistency, he'll dominate this league. It's just rough to see Joey have better rebound control than Jimmy, but beggars can't be choosers.

Oh for Pete's sake. He is not LAST in either. ALL Goaltenders have bad years and this is only his 2nd year. The first year he was outstanding. Look at what Tim Thomas did last year and this year. This is an awesome deal. It is low enough that we can live with the cap but not so low that it's an insult. It's also a short (2 year) deal so that Jimmy will be motivated to improve his game so that next time he can get a long term deal.

Holland is a genius.

[LeftWinger 4,961]

Last in Save Percentage and Goals Against Average...Should have been 2mil or under, but I'm glad we got him re-signed. If he ever works on his rebounds and consistency, he'll dominate this league. It's just rough to see Joey have better rebound control than Jimmy, but beggars can't be choosers.

His rebounds have always been his problem, this was evident even when he was making spot appearances a few years ago. He has gotten better and hopefully he continues to improve. Besides, if it doesn't work out, it wouldn't be the first time Holland wasted $2M plus on someone that turned out to be a piece o' s***.....

[wings1110 184]

2.25 a year for our enforcer?

Edited March 1, 2011 by wings1110

[Kira 451]

I would venture to say this is a pretty fair deal for Howie. A nice raise for him, and I'd say it's deserved.