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The Detroit Red Wings made some intriguing moves during the 2025 NHL offseason. The totality of their moves has drawn a bit of skepticism from their fans. But overall, Detroit got better during the offseason. And they may have made no bigger upgrade than trading for goaltender John Gibson.
Gibson spent his entire career with the Anaheim Ducks until the 2025 NHL Draft. He did struggle a bit as Anaheim fell down the standings. However, the veteran netminder returned to form in 2024-25 as a backup behind Lukas Dostal. Gibson finished the season with a .912 save percentage, 9.71 Goals Saved Above Average, and 11.71 Goals Saved Above Expected.
Gibson represents a massive upgrade in goal for Detroit. He becomes the primary starter in Hockeytown ahead of fellow veteran Cam Talbot. He may have the best track record of any Red Wings goalie since Jimmy Howard retired in 2020.
All of this makes the move favorable for the Winged Wheel. But what makes this trade with the Ducks a perfect move? Quite frankly, it's less to do with Gibson himself, though he is a good pickup. Rather it has to do with the rest of the goaltending market and how its played out to this point.
Goalie market vindicates Red Wings' John Gibson trade
Gibson was far and away the best goaltender available among goalies believed to be on the market. There were other options, such as Vancouver's Thatcher Demko or Columbus's Elvis Merzlikins, who could have had a case. However, Gibson was coming off the best season of any goaltender reasonably available on the market.
Detroit moved quickly to get him, as well. As mentioned, they acquired him at the 2025 NHL Draft, preventing this from becoming a dragged out summer saga. In exchange for the Ducks goaltender, the Red Wings traded Petr Mrazek, a 2027 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-round pick.
Once NHL Free Agency opened, it became clear that this was a fantastic trade for Detroit. Jake Allen, the top goalie on the free agent market, re-signed with the New Jersey Devils. Demko also signed an extension with the Canucks before free agency. This left Merzlikins, Ilya Samsonov, and Alexandar Georgiev as the best goaltending options reasonably available this offseason.
The offseason entered a quiet period following an active first week of July. And from then, we only got a handful of goalie moves. Former Red Wings netminder Alex Lyon found a new home in NHL Free Agency, as did Dan Vladar and Anton Forsberg. Meanwhile, Alex Nedeljkovic and Arturs Silvos were the main goalies who were traded this summer.
The Red Wings did not give up a first-round pick for Gibson. Nor did they part ways with any of their top prospects. In fact, they didn't part with any prospects at all. And they still managed to land a top-of-the-market played at potentially the most important position in hockey.
Gibson is certainly not as flashy as some of the more elite goalies in the NHL. There are also legitimate questions about how he'll perform outside of the Ducks organization. However, the Red Wings were able to prevent other goalie-needy teams from acquiring one of the only starting-caliber netminders on the market at a very reasonable price.
The Red Wings are facing a lot of pressure to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In order to do this, they need to keep the puck out of the net. Gibson is the man tasked with doing that in 2025-26, and Detroit hopes their perfect offseason move will pay off in spades.
