Marc-Andre Fleury still isn’t sure he will play again next season, but the Wild goaltender acknowledged Thursday he is more open to the idea than he was during fall camp.
It’s not difficult to see why.
“He’s still pretty good, isn’t he?” Wild general manager Bill Guerin told reporters on March 8, the NHL’s trade deadline this season.
Although he turned 39 last November, Fleury is still flashing the passion, raw athleticism and lightning reflexes that have moved him into second place in career wins for an NHL goalie, and made him one of only four to play 1,000 games — milestones cemented in this, his 20th, season.
“I always said that I would decide at the end of the season, but I felt like earlier, we were starting camp and all that, and I thought ‘This might be it,’ ” Fleury said. “Then I started feeling a little better, started having more fun.”
On Tuesday, Fleury stopped 30 shots in a 3-2 victory over Ottawa, improving to 11-4-3 since Jan. 6. And if you take out 26 minutes in a 6-0 loss at Los Angeles on March 20, Fleury is 11-3-3 with a 2.33 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 19 appearances.
Certainly Fleury has nothing left to prove. He has been part of three Stanley Cup-winning teams in Pittsburgh, and helped expansion franchise Vegas win two Western Conference titles in four seasons. On Jan. 15, he passed Patrick Roy for second all time in wins by a goaltender with No. 552, shortly after joining wins leader Martin Brodeur, Roy and Roberto Luongo as the only goaltenders to play in 1,000 NHL games.
Playing in the final season of a two-year, $7 million contract extension, Fleury has been the Wild’s best goaltender. And after 20 years, he still approaches every game, and just about every practice, with visible enthusiasm.
“I do. I do,” he said. “But I don’t want to be the old guy that plays one too many. You know what I mean? That’s scary, too, I feel like. I don’t want to be a nuisance to the team, I want to help — and that’s when it feels better, too.”
It was generally assumed that Fleury, having reached his milestones and perhaps played in his 18th postseason, would retire after this season. Then the Wild would promote prospect Jesper Wallstedt to back up Filip Gustavsson, who earned a three-year, $11.25 million extension after being the NHL’s second-best goaltender in 2022-23.
If Fleury decides to continue playing, and Guerin decides he wants him for another year, it complicates what was once a simple plan for next season’s goaltending — although another season in the American Hockey League isn’t unreasonable for Wallstedt, who turns 22 on Nov. 14.
Asked last month how he would navigate trying to re-sign Fleury, Guerin said, “Very carefully.”
Fleury has a young family and is loath to move them for the fourth time since 2021. They like it here, he said. But he also stopped short of saying that it’s Minnesota or bust. Assuming he would only play for the Wild next season is “maybe a little overstated,” he said.
“But ideally, yeah,” he quickly added. “Not moving schools, not moving houses again and all that (would be) nice.”
While Fleury remains one of the NHL’s most athletic goaltenders, gloving slap shots and stacking pads the way he did for 14 years in Pittsburgh, he acknowledged after Thursday’s morning skate that it took a little longer for him to get up to speed in the fall.
He also said that wouldn’t necessarily convince him to retire, adding, “I know what to expect, right? So, maybe.”
The Wild’s game against Colorado on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center is the first of nine remaining regular-season games, with Minnesota eight points out of a wild-card spot. But the Wild are 31-18-6 since John Hynes became the coach on Nov. 28, and he’s been riding Fleury down the stretch.
“It’s still fun,” Fleury said. “I love winning, that feeling you get from winning and contributing. It’s good. It feels good inside.”
Related Articles
After scoring first goal on Tuesday, Wild wing Mason Shaw vows to keep fighting
With veterans out, fourth line sends Wild past Ottawa, 3-2
Wild’s Ryan Hartman on throwing stick on ice: ‘I was over-the-top frustrated’
Wild’s Ryan Hartman suspended three games for throwing stick on ice
Wild’s overtime gambit foiled in 2-1 overtime loss to Vegas
Leave a Reply