Red Wings 2022-23 Wrap-Up: Magnus Hellberg

DETROIT -- Playing sporadically during the 2022-23 season was an adjustment for Detroit Red Wings goalie Magnus Hellberg, but a challenge he embraced, nonetheless.

Hellberg, who appeared in one game with the Red Wings in 2021-22, split the start of this season between the Ottawa Senators and Seattle Kraken. After being claimed off waivers by Detroit from Seattle on Nov. 23, the 32-year-old netminder posted a 2-2-0 record with a 2.50 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in four games with the Grand Rapids Griffins before being recalled from the American Hockey League on Dec. 11.

But due to injuries and/or inconsistency in the crease, the Red Wings divided starting duties between three goalies - Ville Husso, Alex Nedeljkovic and Hellberg - for significant stretches of the season.

"When the team needs me, I have to do my best to try to keep us in games," Hellberg said on March 21. "Obviously everybody wants to play as much as they can, but I'm just grateful for every start I can get in this league. I have to prove every day to myself, my teammates and the organization that I belong here."

Hellberg set NHL career-highs in games played (17) and starts (13) with the Red Wings this year, finishing 4-8-1 with a 3.29 GAA and .855 SV%.

Hellberg notched his first career win with the New York Rangers in April 2017, and in his lone start with Ottawa this season, the Swedish goalie made 29 saves in a 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Oct. 24, becoming the first netminder in NHL history to earn his first three career wins with three different clubs.

Originally drafted by the Nashville Predators in the second round (38th overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Hellberg spent five seasons (2012-17) in North America before suiting up for Sochi HC of the Kontinental Hockey League in 2021-22. Hellberg has now played 23 NHL games throughout five seasons for four different teams in his career, and the 6-foot-6, 220-pound netminder said he hopes to earn a permanent role in the NHL next season.

"I've been a starter almost my whole career," said Hellberg, who enters this offseason as an unrestricted free agent. "And now I'm in a position where I don't play as much, but you just gotta find a way. There's no excuses."