For the second successive offseason, the Detroit Red Wings have reached across the Atlantic Ocean in search of goaltending depth.

Monday, the Wings announced they had signed free agent Slovak netminder Patrik Rybar to a one-year entry-level contract. Rybar, 24, played for Slovakia at the recently-completed world championship and was also with the Slovak team at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyongchang, South Korea, although he saw no game action there.

At the worlds in Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark, Rybar appeared in three games, posting a 1-1 record, with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.

Rybar spent the 2017-18 season with HK Hradec Kralove in the Czech Extraliga, the Czech Republic’s top professional league. In 36 games, Rybar posted a 23-13 record and led the league in both goals-against average (1.73) and shutouts (seven), as well as putting up a .932 save percentage. He helped his club reach the semifinals in the Extraliga playoffs, sporting a 2.24 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 12 postseason games.

At 6-3 and 176 pounds, he certainly has the size requirements to be an NHL netminder, and in Detroit, Rybar definitely will be presented with the opportunity to make a case for himself. Jimmy Howard, Detroit’s No. 1 goalie, is the only netminder currently under contract for next season in the Red Wings organization with any NHL playing experience. Jared Coreau and Tom McCollum, the top two goaltenders with AHL Grand Rapids last season and the only others left at the end of the 2017-18 season with any NHL game time on their resumes, are both unrestricted free agents and it would appear at this point that neither are in Detroit’s future plans.

There are no other goalies under contract with the Wings who have played a single minute of pro hockey.

Rybar shows a 47-26 record, 1.93 goals-against average, 0.927 save percentage and nine shutouts in two seasons with HK Hradec Kralove and in 2015-16, he posted a league-leading .933 save percentage with SHK 37 Piestany in the Slovakian Extraliga.

Last summer, the Wings signed Czech goalie Matej Machovsky to a similar one-year pact but after splitting his season between Grand Rapids (four games) and the ECHL Toledo Walleye (21 games) Machovsky opted to return home and was granted his release. He signed with HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga.

Hall of Famers
Two former Wings were inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame as the world championship wrapped up on the weekend. Defenseman Chris Chelios and right wing Daniel Alfredsson were honored.

Alfredsson, a Red Wing in his final NHL season in 2013-14, played in 14 international tournaments for his native Sweden, including five Olympic Games. He won a gold medal in 2006 and a silver medal in 2014. Alfredsson also helped Sweden win world championship silver medals in 1995 and 2004, and bronze medals in 1999 and 2001.

Chelios played for the Wings from 1999-2009, winning two Stanley Cups and finishing second to teammate Nicklas Lidstrom in the Norris Trophy voting in 2001-02. Chelios played for the United States in four Winter Olympics. He served as captain in 1998, 2002 and 2006, winning the silver medal and being named the tournament's best defenseman in 2002. Chelios also won a gold medal with the U.S. at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

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