Lost in the shuffle was the Wings' signing of Ty Conklin, the goaltender who helped the Penguins when Marc Andre Fleury went down. The signing tells me that maybe, just maybe, the front office has some reservations about Jimmy Howard, their No. 1 pick a few years ago out of Maine.
I have like Howard's size and competitive spirit in the few games I've seen. But, he did not have a great season at Grand Rapids, and this leads me to believe that Conklin, not Howard, will be the No. 2 netminder behind Ozzie.
In some ways, I hope I am wrong. Conklin is a journeyman; Howard is a young, potentially No. 1 goalie in the NHL. Let's hope he's ready for the competition come September and that he can secure the No. 2 job. I like the idea of promoting from within.
If Howard fails at this chance, the Wings are going to be in the hunt for Buffalo's Ryan Miller, the East Lansing native and former MSU standout, in a year or two. I believe Miller is on the final year of a contract, and the Sabres have not been aggressive in re-signing their own free agents.
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