Thu, Jul 7th, 2022 - 11:00pm
March 21, 2022 - 12:52pm | By James McCarty
The Minnesota Wild have traded for 3-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. The 37-year-old veteran is in his 18th season in the NHL. The Wild traded away a 2022 conditional second-round draft pick that would turn into a first-round pick if Minnesota makes the conference finals and Fleury wins four games in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It is also being reported that the Blackhawks will retain 50 percent of Fleury's salary.
Minutes after completing the trade for Fleury the Wild traded away 25-year-old goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen to make room for the veteran goalie. Kahkonen was traded to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenseman Jacob Middleton.
The Wild will now have a one-two punch between the pipes with 2022 all-star Cam Talbot and the 5-time all-star Marc-Andre Fleury. The two have similar numbers this season, with Talbot posting a 24-12-1 record, with a 2.92 goals against average, and a .907 save percentage. Fleury had a 19-21-5 record in Chicago, that included a 2.95 goals against average, and a .908 save percentage.
Talbot will be starting for Minnesota tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights at the Xcel Energy Center at 7 p.m. The Wild are expecting Fleury to integrate himself into the team this week… Minnesota hosts the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, there’s a chance that will be the first time Fleury will see game action in a Wild sweater.
The biggest question about this trade is… Does adding Marc-Andre Fleury at goaltender make the Minnesota Wild a legitimate Stanley Cup contender? We’ll find out in the coming weeks.
