Red Wings deal for goalie Ville Husso from Blues, hire assistant coach Bob Boughner

Detroit — The Red Wings got busy early on the second day of the NHL Entry Draft.

Just not with more drafting.

The Wings acquired the rights to goaltender Ville Husso from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a third-round pick Friday morning before the second day of the draft began.

General manager Steve Yzerman immediately signed Husso, who could have been an unrestricted free agent, to a three-year contract worth $14.25 million ($4.75 million salary cap hit).

"We certainly liked the season Ville had (in St. Louis) and we feel he can come in and form a tandem with Alex (Nedeljkovic)," Yzerman said. "We feel we have two guys who we can put in net every night and give us chance to win."

The Wings were one of a number of teams who were looking for a proven goaltender to add to their roster.

But the number of available goaltenders continued to shrink the past few days.

With that, Yzerman felt comfortable trading a third-round draft pick to make sure a Wings' need was filled.

"There are more teams that need goalies than actual goalies available," Yzerman said. "That's the purpose of the trade."

Husso is 27 and Nedeljkovic 26, with Nedeljkovic under contract for another year with a $3 million salary cap hit (Nedeljkovic can be an unrestricted free agent next summer). The Wings aren't overpaying for two capable NHL goalies, can still extend Nedeljkovic if they desire next summer, and 2021 first-round draft pick Sebastian Cossa has time to develop.

"We have two guys who we feel can play in the league and have two guys, albeit based on somewhat of limited action in the NHL, they've shown they can win games," Yzerman said.

Husso, 27, is 6-foot-3 209 pounds, and this past season took over the starter's job in St. Louis during stretches in favor of slumping Jordan Binnington.

Husso was 25-7-6 with a 2.56 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 40 games. In the playoffs, Husso was 2-5 while starting six of the seven games he appeared in, with a 3.67 GAA and .890 SVS.

Husso was a 2014 fourth-round pick of the Blues, and St. Louis would have liked to kept Husso in a perfect world, but the salary cap prevented that.

Husso had an outstanding first half of the season for the Blues, with a 2.03 GAA and .935 SVS, matching the statistics at that point of Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin.

But Husso slumped in the second half, with a bulky 3.04 GAA and .904 SVS in his final 20 games, then played poorly in the playoffs.

"We feel comfortable he's an NHL goaltender and he makes us better," Yzerman said. "We have the cap space, it's a reasonable term for us, and we think he'll play well. We needed depth at the position and we thought it was a worthwhile decision to make. We expect him to play well for us."

Wings hire Boughner, Westlund

Yzerman also announced the hiring of  Bob Boughner as associate coach and Alex Westlund as goaltending coach.

Boughner, 51, joins the organization after spending parts of three seasons as head coach of the San Jose Sharks, where he compiled a 67-85-23 record.

Boughner returned to San Jose’s coaching staff as an assistant coach on May 29, 2019, before he was elevated to interim head coach on Dec. 11, 2019.

Boughner will handle the Wings' defense, and was someone new Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde wanted to quickly add, after consultation with Yzerman.

"It was Derek's decision and he had 100% of my support behind him," Yzerman said.

Prior to rejoining the Sharks, Boughner worked two seasons as head coach of the Florida Panthers from 2017-19 and posted an 80-62-22 mark. In his first season as an NHL head coach in 2017-18, Boughner led the Panthers to a 44-30-8 record as the team finished one point shy of clinching a playoff berth.

Westlund, 46, arrives in Detroit after working the past five seasons in the Washington Capitals’ organization, serving as associate goaltending coach with the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears.

During his tenure, Westlund worked directly with Washington’s minor-league affiliates, providing daily instruction to prospects in Hershey and the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays.

More: Meet the Detroit Red Wings 2022 NHL Entry Draft picks

More:What they're saying: Red Wings upgrade goalie duo with Ville Husso trade

Ice chips

This was the first NHL Entry Draft in-person after being all done on Zoom the last two years because of the pandemic. Kris Draper, the Wings'  director of amateur scouting, felt it was good atmosphere in Montreal.

"It was exciting, you enjoy being around all of our scouts, we had everyone in, and it was pretty cool to see the players' reaction," Draper said. "To see (first-round pick Marco) Kasper's reaction, it was pretty special. It's very memorable for these guys, it's something you never forget." 

... Yzerman said he would have liked to have made another move, or two, but wasn't able to get it done at the draft. Yzerman doesn't expect the Wings to make any trades before the start Wednesday of unrestricted free agency.

... As for free agency, Yzerman expects to sign players (whether some of the Wings' prospective UFA's, or others), but he expects a crowded marketplace.

"We have some roster spots to fill," Yzerman said. "We'll try (but) it's tough. There's a lot of competition for players. We'll see what we can do. We have some areas to address."

ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tkulfan