Howard has played pretty well the last few weeks, but I get a strong sense that the recent media hype has been pretty overblown. Don't get me wrong, Howard is a really good goalie and has improved with the increase in consistent minutes played, but he is still not what I consider a strong prospect by any means. He's already 24 going on 25 and still has really slow footwork.
A lot of Red Wings fans have been wondering why Howard is so low on the Top-100 Prospects. I remind them all that it's a prospect ranking for fantasy keeper leagues, not a straight up prospects ranking by talent level. Obviously if that was the case he would be a little higher.
This sort of thing seems to happen every year in Detroit. Osgood struggles early because he's a playoff goalie (we all should know that by now) and the backup plays better than expected. There's a lot of hoopla around Osgood being overthrown and the lot. Then Osgood realizes he's under some pressure and the light turns on and he plays a lot better, or at least good enough to start a little more than half the games.
I know Osgood more than I know any other goalie. The regular season is his pre-season and the playoffs are his regular season.
Howard is good, but he's not a quality prospect for my Top-100 and in general terms he still has a ways to go before he's going to be a steady starter in the NHL. Maybe if Osgood retires they give him a chance, but I don't see that happening right now.
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Jimbo Howard
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