Red Wings Room: Lyon Expects Future Will be Elsewhere

Alex Lyon has enjoyed the two most productive years of his NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings.

He’s thankful for that.

“I’m happy,” Lyon said. “Got to be a full time NHL player for two years.”

He also knows that his time with the Red Wings is at an end.

Alex Lyon says NO 🚫 pic.twitter.com/HLPMVhSfrH

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“Just gonna kind of have to see the way the winds blow and it’s a lot of things that are kind of out of my control,” Lyon said. “But it’s a great place to play and loved playing at LCA.”

Lyon will be a UFA July 1. That’s when his time with the Red Wings will officially come to an end. For all intents and purposes, the end came for Lyon the moment Detroit was acquiring veteran goalie Petr Mrazek from the Chicago Blackhawks at the NHL trade deadline.

Both Mrazek and Cam Talbot are under contract for next season. Once Mrazek arrived, it was obvious that Lyon was the odd goalie out in the three-netminder rotation.

Lyon admits he was a bit taken aback when Detroit GM Steve Yzerman made the move to get Mrazek.

“Yeah, it was difficult for a minute,” Lyon said. “But that’s part of it and part of being a successful professional and a successful goalie is being able to get through mentally, things like that. And so I’ve been the third goalie on the roster for my whole career.

“So it’s just something that you got to deal with.”

Red Wings Were Lyon’s First Full-Time NHL Home

In each of his previous NHL stops, Lyon was bouncing up and down between the big club and the AHL. That never happened in Detroit.

In his new home, he’ll be seeking out a similar scenario.

“I would like to continue to be in the NHL,” Lyon said. “You just can’t take for granted being in the NHL and playing in the NHL

“It’s difficult to get there and it’s more difficult to stay around. And so, yeah, it’s just a lot of things up in the air right now that are really kind of outside the scope of my control.”

Enjoy the sights and sounds of practice on the ODR with Alex Lyon! 🎙️

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In his heart, Lyon is a realist. The fact of the matter is that the Lyon who was stopping pucks for the Red Wings this season wasn’t as effective as the guy who was performing last season.

You know. He knows it.

“I wish I could have played better here and gotten us, helped better to get us into the playoffs this year,” he said, “But just have to move forward and just keep grinding.”

Goaltending is very much a mental exercise. Lyon does his own mental exercises designed to keep his game sharp and his confidence sky high.

“I think that I should be the highest paid player in the league and I should win the Vezina every year,” he said. “I think that’s the mentality that you have to have, and that’s how you should act and have to take that approach. So I tried, I strive for that.

“Obviously, I’m also a realist, so I understand that that’s maybe not my reality, but I do think I can. Honestly, I think that I can. And there are always times when your confidence wavers and like, goes up and down, but it’s just like, I’m going to strive for that.

“I’m going to try to put my best foot forward and kind of see where it takes me.”

At this juncture, Lyon does know where that next destination will be.

Other than it won’t be Detroit.