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Hockeytown0001

MLive : Howard out at least 2-4 weeks with "slight groin tear"

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Exactly Euro_Twins. Those of you clamoring for Howard to be traded now, it simply is not going to happen. Howard isn't going anywhere any time soon. If anything, Mrazek would be the one that Holland would trade at this point. If I HAD to trade one right now, I would think long and hard, before ultimately keeping the proven goaltender and trading the very good prospect. I would do so, knowing I may regret it, but you cannot put all your faith into a goalie with just 20 NHL games under his belt. Lucky for us, we still have plenty of time to sort this out. If all goes well, maybe after a couple seasons of Mrazek backing up and another season or so of shared duty, we can then shop Howard, although I still wouldn't be shocked if Holland opted to keep his veteran goaltender...

I didn't say now, I said in the next year or two. A year or two makes for an exceedingly different story. Howard has four more seasons on his deal at a relatively heavy cap hit after this season. If Mrazek plays strong this season and comes in next year in a backup role and continues to play up to snuff with Howard, I don't think Howard's sticking around unless Howard win's a Cup this year or next.

And bear in mind, when push comes to shove, he hasn't proven much in the post-season yet. He's lost more games than he's won, doesn't have stellar numbers, and while you can't single-handedly fault him for our playoff failures as of late, he has yet to perform in the playoffs as well as he's performed in the regular season when he's been on. And that said, he's absolutely had some inconsistent regular seasons in a not so long career.

I'm not saying I don't like Howard nor am I saying that I don't think he's capable of leading this team to a Cup. I think he's a very good goalie and I honestly do like him a lot. But realistically speaking, he doesn't have anything close to a strong playoff resume yet, and if he doesn't get one soon, he's going to be in a position where he's expendable if Mrazek proves he's ready to be the number one guy.

If Mrazek is at least as good as Howard, and many think he'll be better, there's just no way you can justify keeping Howard into his mid-30s given his cap hit unless Howard becomes a Stanley Cup winning goalie in the next 1-2 years. (And again, to be clear, I do believe that's possible.)

2-4 weeks means 2-4 months right?

I'll be pleasantly surprised if he's back in a month.

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Personally, I don't really see the harm in letting McCollum start sunday against Buffalo. Low risk game. Coming off a back to back. And the last thing we need is to push Mrazek to the edge so he gets injured.

McCollum was a first round pick remember, and the last 2 years in GR his played has improved to the point where he's at least looking like a shadow of the reasons he was picked so highly in the first place. Wouldn't do any harm in taking a look at him. When's the next chance the Wings will get this opportunity? Training camp?

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There are a lot of "if's" in there. "If Mrazek proves he's ready", "If Mrazek is at least as good as Howard". My point is that you don't trade a top goalie in the world, and replace him with a relatively unproven prospect. If you're not one of the people that were saying trade Howard before this season even started, then I guess my last post wasn't directed at you.

I'm as big a fan of Mrazek as anyone, but I'm not ready to hand over the reigns just yet. He still has a ton to prove at the NHL level. I think he will get there. We'll have a better idea after these next few weeks, and I'm personally looking forward to see what the kid got.

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I'm as big a fan of Mrazek as anyone, but I'm not ready to hand over the reigns just yet. He still has a ton to prove at the NHL level. I think he will get there. We'll have a better idea after these next few weeks, and I'm personally looking forward to see what the kid got.

This is my thoughts. Mrazek definitely has the ability to take the reins. But not quite yet. I'm hoping for the best with Howard out.

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There are a lot of "if's" in there. "If Mrazek proves he's ready", "If Mrazek is at least as good as Howard". My point is that you don't trade a top goalie in the world, and replace him with a relatively unproven prospect. If you're not one of the people that were saying trade Howard before this season even started, then I guess my last post wasn't directed at you.

I'm as big a fan of Mrazek as anyone, but I'm not ready to hand over the reigns just yet. He still has a ton to prove at the NHL level. I think he will get there. We'll have a better idea after these next few weeks, and I'm personally looking forward to see what the kid got.

I absolutely was not one of those people. I think it's a situation that will need to be sorted out in the next 1-2 years. That's where I've stood on the issue for awhile. There's a lot of "ifs" there, and there's also a pretty reasonable timeline to sort out those "ifs." I'm definitely not ready to hand over the keys at this point either.

But if Mrazek is as good as people think he's going to be, the sooner we get him rolling as the starter, the better, because they're most likely going to have to decide on Howard or Mrazek in the next couple years, and Mrazek is a lot younger. I think a lot of people forget that though Howard hasn't been in the league for that many years, he didn't even make the team until he was 25. If you recall, he was at the end of his development rope and in a "now or never" situation heading into camp. Subsequently, he's going to be 31 this year. I'm not saying he's old, but if you want a chance to get some value for him in a trade, the move needs to be done sooner rather than later.

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