Count me among those who feel the Red Wings would be wise to cover their tracks at goalie. It's been a couple years since Ty Conklin has played well, and he has precious little playoff experience. Joey MacDonald is fine in a pinch, but he is the goaltending/hockey version of a 4-A player in baseball.
Sure, Jimmy Howard is the Red Wings goalie. He's earned that. Also, count me among those who feel he is capable to backstopping the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup championship this spring.
And he will come back from his broken finger. Thing is, the Red Wings can't waste the opportunity to get the top-seed in the Western Conference while Howard is out for a month or so. It hurt them badly the last two seasons in the playoffs not to have the home-ice edge in just the second series, each time against San Jose. Also, what if Howard were to get injured in the playoffs?
Last year, the Red Wings couldn't get Evgeni Nabokov. He was claimed on waivers by the Islanders. This year, it is different. He has a cap-friendly salary, is playing well this season, his team is going nowhere and he is eligible for free agency this summer.
The Red Wings have depth to trade to get Nabokov, and still plenty of cap space to add to their team otherwise at the trade deadline for Cup run.
Time couldn't be better to move on a deal.