Since Petr Mrazek was traded in late-February, the Red Wings goalie situation has been a big question mark. Mrazek, who was supposed to take reigns from the aging Jimmy Howard, had fizzled out into a mere 3rd round pick in 2018. Howard has one more year on his contract and will likely sign a short-term extension afterwards. Finally, newcomer Jonathan Bernier signed a three-year deal to back Howard up.

After that, though, the Red Wings don’t have much depth in net. Jared Coreau is gone and Tom McCollum was never a real prospect. Their best bet is likely three to four years away still and his name is Keith Petruzzelli.

Petruzzelli is a beast. Standing at 6’5”, he’s part of the new wave of goalies that are massive in height, yet still athletic in net. He’s quick, with a sharp glove hand, and alert of what’s happening around his net. His size allows him to spread out and cover more of the crease, giving shooters very little net to shoot at.

Coming up through the U.S. Development Program, Petruzzelli put up a respectable .918 save percentage with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL in his draft year. It was a top-10 performance among goalies who started in more than 30 games that year. It’s the reason the Red Wings drafted him 88th overall in the 3rd round of the 2017 NHL entry draft with the pick that they got from the Chicago Blackhawks in the Tomas Jurco trade.

Petruzzelli has yet to sign an entry-level with the Wings because he elected to go the college route and play for Quinnipiac University. It was a tough season for Petruzzelli, who was a true freshman at 18-years-old and adjusting the a bigger, stronger game at the college level. Towards the end of the season, Quinnipiac’s second goaltender was injured and Petruzzelli had his chance. He took it and ran with it.

From that point on, Petruzzelli had himself in the conversation to be the true number one goalie for Quinnipiac. He backstopped them to a sweep of Yale in the first round of the playoffs and kept them alive through a tough second round against Cornell.

It was a tough transition, but Petruzzelli demonstrated that he had the drive and desire to turn his game around. He’s got a very high ceiling and the Wings are expecting big things for him going forward.

No, Petruzzelli won’t sniff Grand Rapids next season. Instead, he’ll look to be the undisputed starter for Quinnipiac and get his save percentage back into the 900s. Another year or two of development at the college level, maybe toss in some team success, and he’ll be ready to make the jump.

Petruzzelli is currently Detroit’s best goalie prospect and will likely be the replacement for Howard in three years time. It’ll be a rough go until then, but Petruzzelli is showing all of the promise required for a starting goalie in the NHL. Now he just has to get there.