Red Wings Loan G Calvin Pickard to Vienna Capitals of ICEHL

Needing to stay in shape over the off-season, the Detroit Red Wings have been allowing several of their top young players to travel overseas and participate in live games over the last few months, but it seems their most recent loan agreement could suggest hockey won’t be returning to North America for a little bit longer.

While the NHL and NHLPA are discussing the terms of next season, which is certainly taking far too long, both sides still appear to be targeting a Jan. 1 start date, although it seems the possibility of the regular season actually opening on New Year’s Day appears to be slipping away each day. Adding to this, the Red Wings announced on Tuesday that goaltender @Calvin Pickard has been loaned to the Vienna Capitals of the ICEHL – Austria’s top hockey league.

Why’s this a major development? Well, Pickard is currently considered Detroit’s third-string netminder and will undoubtedly receive an invite to training camp, whenever it actually opens. Now heading to Austria for all of December, this move could suggest players won’t be reporting to Little Caesars Arena for camp until next month at the earliest.

Taking this a step further, since there’s a strong chance the 6-foot-1 goaltender will be sent down to the Grand Rapids Griffins, it’s possible his tenure with the Capitals could extend into 2021. With the AHL’s 2021 campaign scheduled to open on Feb. 5, it’d make plenty of sense for him to remain in Europe until mid-January if the NHL continues down this troubling path.

Though playing in a foreign country during a pandemic isn’t the most ideal situation, it’s one that’ll allow Pickard to participate in his first live game in nearly nine months and it should help him prepare for his upcoming season with the Griffins. While he’s coming off somewhat of a rough inaugural campaign with Detroit’s organization, the 28-year old was able to produce a few encouraging results and will be looking to build off them moving forward.

Over his 33 games in the AHL during the 2019-20 campaign, the former second-round selection performed to a 17-12-4 record, producing a 2.86 goals-against average, .903 save percentage, and three shutouts (tied for fourth-most among all qualified goalies in the AHL), according to AHL.com.

Making a trio of starts with the Red Wings this past season, Pickard earned a 1-0-2 record, creating a miserable 5.46 goals-against average along with a .797 save percentage.

Entering the final season of his current two-year, $1.5 million contract signed back in 2019, it’ll be extremely crucial for Pickard to generate improved results in the NHL if he’s called upon at some point next season. If not, then the veteran netminder will likely be forced to suit up for another organization after the 2021 campaign.