Detroit Red Wings 'haven't given up on' Ville Husso after waivers; Austin Watson called up

NEW YORK — The Detroit Red Wings brought Austin Watson to New York to have him available once they were free to assign Ville Husso to the minors.

Husso, formerly the team's No. 1 goaltender, cleared waivers Monday afternoon, 24 hours after landing there.

"Tough conversation, always," coach Derek Lalonde told the Free Press after the Wings' morning skate at Madison Square Garden. "It is a business, you're managing your roster.

"It was very similar to what I did with Justin [Holl] – we haven't given up on you. We asked Justin to be ready; literally 24 hours later, he was in our lineup. We haven't given up on Ville. He might see the net again here soon."

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Waiving Husso freed up a roster spot needed to flesh out the lineup after it sustained two injuries in the first two games. First, it was defenseman Jeff Petry who was unable to finish the 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins because of an upper-body injury; then it was forward Christian Fischer, also because of an upper-body injury, who didn't finish the 3-0 victory over the Nashville Predators.

Neither player is ailing to the point of needing to be put on injured reserve, which means they still count against the 23-man roster. The Wings reached the limit Saturday when they called up Holl just days after he had cleared waivers and been sent to the minors. With the possibility that Fischer is available as soon as Thursday, the Wings opted not to call up 2022 first-round pick Marco Kasper, who had an outstanding camp.

"The mentality is, if Kasper is coming, it's probably more of a long-term scenario," Lalonde said. "This is potentially a short-term scenario."

The Wings are in something of a bind with Husso. The 29-year-old is coming off an injury-plagued season that limited him to 19 games in 2023-24; in many of those outings, he struggled. He appeared back on track with two strong performances against NHL-laden opponents in the preseason, but he looked shaky in the regular-season opener, allowing 4 goals on 14 shots in 25 minutes. It was precisely concern over lingering effects from everything that Husso endured last season – the lower-body injury, the seeming loss of confidence in net – that led the Wings to bring in Cam Talbot in the offseason, adding to the goaltending depth that also features Alex Lyon.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com . Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames . Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter . Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings , A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon , Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings 'haven't given up on' Ville Husso after waivers; Austin Watson called up