Lyon hungry for more, aiming to be even better after 2023-24 season with Red Wings

DETROIT -- After signing a two-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings last summer, Alex Lyon entered Training Camp expecting to be the starting goaltender for the club’s AHL-affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins during the 2023-24 season.

Instead, Lyon earned an increased role in his first season with the Red Wings, emerging as Detroit’s No. 1 netminder. The 31-year-old set NHL career-highs in games played (44) and starts (43) this season, finishing 21-18-5 with a 3.05 goals-against average, .904 save percentage and two shutouts.

“(The 2023-24 campaign) gave me a very clear view of the things that I need to work on,” Lyon said in his end-of-season media session. “Trying to find that consistency over the full course of the season, it’s a difficult thing. Honestly, it gets me excited and motivates me more than anything to be the best version of myself. I now have a better understanding of what it’s going to take and what that looks like.”

Lyon provided much-needed stability in net for the Red Wings, stepping up while goaltender Ville Husso battled multiple lower-body injuries this season. Head coach Derek Lalonde said Lyon proved invaluable to Detroit.

"Huge kudos to our management group to have the vision of not only signing him, but not (putting) him through waivers,” Lalonde said about Lyon. “That's something we discussed a lot. Thank God they didn't. Great vision by them in the big picture of things and with his emergence, it's exciting."

Lyon, who previously played 39 career games over six NHL campaigns before this season, said he learned a lot from carrying a heavier workload.

"I hadn’t been at the NHL level for more than two or three weeks at a time,” Lyon said. “Learning the travel and schedule, that’s so much different than the AHL. In the AHL, you get so used to playing on the weekend and might play three games in three days. It’s more of a sprint than that marathon mentality. I feel I’ve learned a lot, so I just have to use it wisely going forward.”

A highly self-motivated and self-aware individual, Lyon said he is constantly searching for ways to improve.

“To last a long time in professional hockey, you have to be hungry all the time,” Lyon said. “That’s something that you learn and get better at. For me, I look at it as if I would’ve played all year in the AHL or NHL, I think my hunger level would be the same. You just teach yourself to stay and be hungry.”

So while Lyon enjoyed showcasing his skills with the Red Wings this season, the goaltender thinks he can be even better in 2024-25.

“Just the way the season ended and how things went down, I feel extremely motivated and hungry,” Lyon said. “I think hungrier now than I have ever been. That’s a good feeling.”