Osgood Takes Less to Stay a Wing

The Detroit Red Wings added some stability to the future of their goaltending position by giving Chris Osgood a 3 year extension worth $4.5 million. A move that was in both sides best interest if you follow the club. Osgood wanted to stay with Detroit. With Dominik Hasek (turns 43 years old this month) an unknown beyond this season and Jimmy Howard (.915 save% in Grand Rapids this season) untested at the NHL level, this was a logical play for Ken Holland.

The gifts keep coming for Osgood as today he was named an All-Star for the 3rd time in his career and 1st time since 1998 (which he sat out due to injury). The bid is well earned as Osgood is playing easily the best hockey of his career. Owning a 19-2-1 record with a league best 1.68 goals against average and .932 save percentage going into tonight's contest with the Minnesota Wild despite splitting time with Hasek. Even though Osgood could've probably earned at least twice as much elsewhere, Detroit is where he's comfortable and he'll get a chance to hit some milestones as a Red Wing (tied for 15th all-time with 355 wins).

The milestones are what intrigue me. I've never considered Osgood anything more than a good goalie on great Red Wings teams. However, I did some research after being astonished by his place on the wins list. Here's a chart of the all-time leaders in career wins by a goalie (ref: Hockey Hall of Fame, not up to date as the active goalies have amassed more wins since it was last updated):

1st	1st	551	Patrick Roy	19 seasons
2nd	2nd	508	Martin Brodeur	15 seasons
2nd	3rd	484	Ed Belfour	17 seasons
3rd	4th	447	Terry Sawchuk	21 seasons
6th	5th	446	Curtis Joseph	17 seasons
3rd	6th	435	Jacques Plante	18 seasons
5th	7th	423	Tony Esposito	16 seasons
6th	8th	407	Glenn Hall	18 seasons
8th	9th	403	Grant Fuhr	19 seasons
10th	10th	385	Mike Vernon	19 seasons
11th	11th	374	John Vanbiesbrouck	20 seasons
12th	12th	372	Andy Moog	18 seasons
14th	13th	370	Dominik Hasek	16 seasons
13th	14th	369	Tom Barrasso	19 seasons
14th	15th	355	Rogie Vachon	16 seasons
17th	16th	349	Chris Osgood	14 seasons

If Hasek were to retire after this season, Osgood would likely be the starter for at least the next two years. Let's play the numbers game. Say Osgood wins 30 games this season. He would be at 366 for his career. It's not out of the question to figure Osgood averages at least 30 wins a year the next two seasons, that's 426 and 7th place all-time. At this point, going into his final year (possibly of his career), he would need 22 victories to pass Red Wings legend Terry Sawchuk as the Red Wings all-time winningest goalie. If he were to retire there, he would finish his career in the top five in wins, likely over 50 shutouts, at least 3 all-star appearances, and at least 2 Stanley Cups (one as a starter). I've never thought of Osgood as a Hall of Fame goaltender, but those kind of numbers would certainly be difficult to keep him out.

The Hall of Fame and projections I've given may be getting ahead of myself. For now, Osgood is enjoying a renaissance campaign and is engaged in a heated battle with Dominik Hasek (10-1-1, 3 SO his last 12 starts) for who gets to be the last line of defense on what could be a very special season for the Wings. Great move by Detroit.