After spending all of last season answering questions about whether 2023-24 would be his last season, Marc-Andre Fleury made it clear after signing his current deal — a one-year, $2.5 million contract extension — this season will be his last.

Every time the Wild would play in a different arena, the same questions would be repeated. The veteran goaltender — a slam-dunk future hall of famer who turns 40 on Nov. 28 — is hoping that was enough to stave off another such tour in 2024-25.

“I don’t want any special treatment,” Fleury, entering his 22nd NHL season, said after the Wild’s first training camp workouts on Thursday at TRIA Rink. “I just want to go, look around, bring back some memories from my time here, but definitely not looking forward to any special treatment. Don’t need that. We’re good.”

If Fleury gets any extra attention this season, he hopes it’s because he’s helping his team win in the playoffs, which he missed last season for the first time in a remarkable 17 years. It’s important, he said, that his career ends in the postseason.

He won Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh in 2009, 2016, and 2017, and helped the Vegas Golden Knights advance to the Cup final in 2018 and the Western Conference final in 2021. In all, he has played in 169 playoff games, 166 of them starts. Six of those have been in Minnesota, all of them in the first round.

The goal for Fleury and his teammates is to change that this spring.

“You know, it’s the most fun time of the year,” Fleury said. “It’s so intense, the atmosphere in the building is awesome, the battles, the intensity. It’s fun to watch, too, fun to watch the guys go and see how much the crowd gets into it — every building you go to. Yeah, it’s the best time to play.”

To that end, Fleury is ready to do whatever it takes to help the Wild win games this season, whether it’s starting games or tutoring rookie prospect Jesper Wallstedt, whose play with the Wild late last season indicated he might be ready to challenge Fleury and Filip Gustavsson for starts this season.

Fleury said Thursday he had yet to sit down with head coach John Hynes to talk about the goaltending plans this season, but Hynes and general manager Bill Guerin had made it clear that if having three goaltenders on the roster helps the team win, it’s going to happen — at least sporadically.

Like they were last season, the Wild are carrying $14.7 million dead cap space from the Zach Parise / Ryan Suter buyouts and will be fighting to stay under the $88 million cap all season, which will hamper the team’s ability to keep three goalies on the roster without help from injury emergency rules.

And the Wild hope they don’t need emergency rules this season.

“Maybe it’s a situation where all three look great (in camp and) we can’t carry all three for the time being,” Hynes said Thursday. “So, maybe we carry two and send Wally down. He plays, plays, plays and bang! He gets called up. It’s going to be a fluid situation, so it’s all going to depend.

“I don’t want to get too far into the future, but I think all things are on the table, with it being said that if all three guys are worthy of being in the net at the NHL level and helping us win games, we’re going to find a way.”

Last season wasn’t just about Fleury possibly playing his last NHL season; he also was chasing Patrick Roy for second on the career wins list for a goalie. He passed him with his 552nd win, a 5-0 victory over the New York Islanders at Xcel Energy Center on Jan. 15.

It was his 75th career shutout, 11th all time. Fleury can’t catch leader Martin Brodeur’s 691 career victories, but one shutout would tie him with Ed Belfour for 10th, and three would move him past Roberto Luongo for eighth place.

Moving up on the shutouts list would be a big accomplishment, but it won’t likely attract the attention that his career wins chase did.

That’s good for Fleury, who just wants to play this season.

“At the end of the day, I want to try to help the team as much as I can, to get some wins and enjoy it in the meantime — work hard, get the guys going,” he said. “Whatever it is.”

A “Free Farmers’ Market” food give-away will be held at Allianz Field in St. Paul on Friday, marking five years since the market’s inception.

The event, put together by Minnesota United, Allianz Life and Keystone Community Services, will run from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The goal of the market is to feed people facing food insecurity in the Midway neighborhood and beyond. Allianz has hosted 22 markets since the professional soccer stadium opened in 2019.

Over the past five years, the markets have served over 9,800 households. That number is expected to surpass 10,000 on Friday.

“We’re trying to continuously combat food insecurity in the Midway neighborhood specifically, throughout the entirety of St. Paul and if there are people coming from different parts of the Twin Cities, they are all welcome as well,” said Minnesota United spokesman Aaron Tomich.

Food provided will include produce, canned goods and non-perishables. A drive-through experience is available in the parking lot between Allianz Field and the McDonald’s on University Avenue. The market is walkable for those without a vehicle.

One in nine Minnesotans — approximately 500,000 people — currently experience food insecurity, according to Hunger Solutions Minnesota. State residents made over 7.5 million visits to food shelves last year.

Through the free farmers market events, Minnesota United, Allianz Life and Keystone Community Services have reached more than 41,600 people in the Midway and distributed 447,123 pounds of food, according to the team.

Minnesota United FC Chief Executive Officer Shari Ballard, Allianz Life president and CEO Jasmine Jirele, Keystone Community Services CEO Adero Riser Cobb, and Second Harvest Heartland CEO Allison O’Toole will all be in attendance to commemorate five years.

Allianz Field is located at 400 Snelling Ave. N. in St. Paul. For more information, visit keystoneservices.org/venue/allianz-field.

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Several Stillwater prison staff members were taken to the hospital Thursday following an incident that put the facility into a lockdown, Minnesota Department of Corrections officials said.

“Several staff were taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution,” said Shannon Loehrke, the DOC’s communications director, in a Thursday afternoon email to the Pioneer Press. “The facility is on a temporary lockdown.”

An investigation is ongoing, and the DOC will provide more details as they become available, she said.

Loehrke did not immediately respond to a follow-up email by the Pioneer Press asking about the extent of the possible injuries to staff and what the incident entailed.

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