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The Detroit Red Wings have been searching for a starting goalie for years, and one trade pitch has the team solidifying the position.
The website PuckPedia‘s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Red Wings acquiring Spencer Knight from the Florida Panthers.
Red Wings acquire:
Panthers acquire:
- Carter Gylander
- 2026 third-round pick
- 2027 third-round pick
The proposed deal is an intriguing one as the Red Wings would acquire Knight for a prospect and two picks. Knight is one of the top goalie prospects in the NHL, but he’s blocked for a starting job with Florida having Sergei Bobrovsky as their starter.
Knight was selected 13th overall in the 2019 NHL draft by the Panthers. He’s currently in the second year of a three-year $13.5 million deal, and he will be an RFA at the end of the contract. Knight would have a chance to be Detroit’s starting goalie and could be the goalie of the future. Knight has played in 57 games going 49-32-17 with a 2.91 GAA and a .906 SV%.
Florida will get two third-round draft picks as well as goalie prospect Gylander. Gylander was selected seventh overall in the 2019 NHL draft and played for Colgate University last season. In the NCAA, he went 14-14-4 with a 2.93 GAA and a .901 SV%.
Knight Was in the Player’s Assistance Program
Knight was projected to take over for Bobrovsky as the Panthers starting goalie. However, during the 2022-23 NHL season, the goalie was in the player’s assistance program.
Knight entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program to receive help with managing obsessive-compulsive disorder. He spent the entire 2023-24 NHL season in the AHL but was up with the Panthers during their Stanley Cup run.
Back in September of 2023, Knight spoke to The Hockey News and opened up on his time in the player’s assistance program.
“I was spiraling in a direction I didn’t want to be going,” Knight said.
After working on himself, Knight believes he can get back to the goalie he was before and be a full-time starting goalie in the NHL.
“I can still be the player I want to be, and I still believe I can be one of the best goalies in this league,” Knight said. “Maybe it’s this year, maybe it’s next year, maybe it’s in three years or four years or five years. I don’t know. I know what I’m capable of accomplishing. It was there before and it has been there the whole time.”
Red Wings Have No True No. 1 Goalie
Detroit enters the 2024-25 NHL season with no true No. 1 goalie which has been an issue.
The Red Wings signed Cam Talbot to a two-year $5 million deal to compete with Ville Husso and Alex Lyon for the starting job. Detroit also signed former Toronto Maple Leafs’ goalie Jack Campbell to be their backup goalie.
Ahead of free agency in July, Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman spoke to the media and said he would prefer to not carry three goalies this season.
“I don’t see us really doing three goaltenders throughout the course of the season,” Yzerman said. “That wasn’t really the plan last year, either, but injury kind of dictated that. And we kind of hemmed and hawed a little bit at the end of the season as far as OK, what do we want to do and then Ville (Husso) got hurt and the issue was resolved.”
Detroit will open its 2024-25 NHL season at home on October 10 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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