Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

If a trade partner does not materialize, should the Detroit Red Wings take drastic measures regarding goaltender Jimmy Howard? Or does it make more sense to keep him?

The window to buy out players requires they be put on waivers by noon Thursday. Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said during the past weekend’s draft that the team was considering the buyout option (in general, not specific to Howard) and that held as of today.

Moving Howard has been a possibility since the end of the season, when Holland said it might make sense because the team is committing to Petr Mrazek as its No. 1 goaltender. Mrazek, a restricted free agent, is likely to command somewhere in the $4.5-5 million range, depending on the amount of term he gets. With Howard at a salary cap hit of $5.3 million, circa $10 million is a significant amount to have tied up just in goaltending (Dallas does that). The Wings can do it financially, though.

There was not much of a market for goaltenders this summer in the first place, and it dried up when Toronto acquired Frederik Andersen and Calgary acquired Brian Elliott. With Howard having three years left on his contract, he always was going to be hard to trade, even if the Wings retain some of his salary.

So this is where a buyout comes into the picture. It’d be very costly, though, in term. It'd be two-thirds of Howard’s remaining salary, averaged out over twice the amount of years left. So $14.75 million over six years.

Thanks to the handy buyout calculator offered by the website generalfanager.com, here's a breakdown of the money situation:

Season ... Buyout cost ... Buyout savings ... Buyout cap hit

2016-17 ... $1,638,888 ... $3,861,112 ... $1,430,554

2017-18 ... $1,638,888 ... $3,361,112 ... $1,930,554

2018-19 ... $1,638,888 ... $2.,611,112 ... $2,680,554

2019-20 ... $1,638,888 ... -$1,638,888 ... $1,638,888

2020-21 ... $1,638,888 ... -$1,638,888 ... $1,638,888

2021-22 ... $1,638,888 ... -$1,638,888 ... $1,638,888

The Wings already carry dead salary through 2020-2021 in the form of Stephen Weiss, who was bought out last summer with three years left on his contract.

Buying out Howard only makes sense if the Wings are certain they can improve so much this off-season it’s worth carrying more dead money.

A more likely scenario at this point has the Wings keeping Howard. If they trade him, they just need a really dependable, higher-end backup anyway. Someone they can trust to step in should Mrazek struggle again like he did the last third of this past season. The Wings aren't even sure Mrazek, 24, can handle 60 games at this point in his career. Howard, 32, bailed out the Wings from mid-February and into the playoffs. He absolutely wants to be no. 1, but he puts the team before himself, and does not pout (a la Curtis Joseph) when Mrazek has emerged as the no. 1 over the past two seasons.

Here’s another way keeping Howard makes sense: Maybe a deal emerges for him during the upcoming season, should another team suffer injuries. If not, Howard can be exposed in the expansion draft next summer.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.

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