Future Hall-of-Fame netminder Marc-André Fleury hasn’t decided he’s ready to hang up his skates and is open to returning to the Wild next season, he told NHL.com/fr Senior Reporter Jean-François Chaumont this week.
If Fleury returns for his 21st year in the NHL, it will only be in the Twin Cities. The pending UFA told Chaumont that he “wouldn’t want to move and take my three kids out of their environment” and that “it’s probably Minnesota or retirement.”
The 39-year-old has occupied the 1A role in Minnesota as the Wild try to claw their way into the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Fleury started eight of 12 games in March. He was excellent for most of that stretch, going 4-1-1 with a .936 SV% between March 2 and March 16, but he has now surrendered five goals in each of his last two starts.
It hasn’t been a season to write home about for either him or tandem partner Filip Gustavsson, who have both logged save percentages under .900 after serving as one of the league’s better goalie tandems a season ago. His .899 SV% is his lowest since his first two NHL seasons with the Penguins in 2003-04 and 2005-06 behind a team that was inarguably the league’s worst defensively. However, that didn’t stop him from overtaking Patrick Roy for second place on the league’s all-time wins list earlier this season, now nine ahead of his countryman with 560.
He’s still been serviceable as a backup and has bounced back from a highly disappointing 2021-22 campaign split between the Wild and the Blackhawks, where his -17.2 goals saved above expected was fourth-worst in the NHL, per MoneyPuck. He may not move the needle much if he returns for his age-40 season – his birthday is in November – but there’s reason to believe he can still keep pace with the NHL game.
Obviously, Fleury believes he can, citing his increased comfort level and “rediscovered joy” as the season progressed. The netminder said that while he never reached a final decision, he entered the 2023-24 campaign thinking “it was going to be my last season,” a feeling exacerbated by hip problems he said plagued him as Minnesota struggled out of the gate.
Those are in the rearview now, and he’s ready to return if he still has a place in the organization. He made it clear to Chaumont that he knows that’s not a guarantee, saying he’ll speak with Minnesota GM Bill Guerin about his vision for next season and if the team feels top goaltending prospect Jesper Wallstedt is ready for a full-time role alongside Gustavsson, who has two seasons remaining on his contract.
Wallstedt, the 20th overall pick in the 2021 draft, struggled in his NHL debut in January, conceding seven goals on 34 shots faced in a rout at the hands of the Stars. However, he’s had a strong second season in the minors with AHL Iowa, posting a .911 SV% and 20-17-3 record in 40 games behind a weaker squad. He was sent to the AHL All-Star Game after making it as a rookie last season, too.
Guerin told Chaumont that he’s “more than open to the possibility of seeing him coming back for another season” and “there’s still some gas left in his tank.” Fleury’s made it clear that money won’t be a major consideration on a one-year extension and could very well take as low as the league minimum salary as Minnesota continues to navigate a tough salary cap situation created by the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, which still combine for a $14.7MM dead cap charge next season.
It would be the second extension the Sorel, Quebec, native signs in Minnesota. After coming over from Chicago ahead of the 2022 trade deadline, he signed a two-year, $7MM deal with full no-move protection to close out his days of earning multi-year contracts.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
If we don’t resign Ned…
Come on down to the Pittsburgh Retirement Home and take advantage of our Silver Sneakers program so you can keep fit & work out in your golden years as you watch the team occupy a solid 7th out of 8 teams in the division (thank god for Columbus!)
They need a one year bridge to Blomqvist.
Who should they get, Sheshterkin?
MAF will be right in the pile of guys they will sign for that job (if not Ned).
Nothing aganst Flower, but for a below-average 39-year-old goalie to frame the situation like “I don’t want to take my kids out of school, so it’s here or nowhere,” isn’t exactly a great come-on for Minny to offer a contract. If not disturbing your kids’ school schedules is the main motivator for a return, then it’s probably time to hang ’em up.
They should resign him. Gustafson has only had 1 good year and is back to playing like he did during his Senators days. Wallstedt needs another year in the minors and be more consistent down there. Also the crop of Free Agents for Goalies are not very good. Stolarz would be the only going after so you might as well keep the Flower for 1 more year.
Fightcitymayor said it perfectly!!!! Fleury is the epitome of CRINGE WORTHY!!!! Part of though Hope’s he comes back so that his career save percentage is under 900. LMAO!!!!
Hey mouthbreather, you realize he has had a near 20 year career (21 more than you) in the NHL and has a .912 career sv%? 3 total seasons under 900, one of which can be fixed this season. For whatever reason you have this hate on for him (oh wait he’s not a young Anglo-Saxon white Canadian, now I got you), as one of the best goalies in NHL history. Keep posting your same rhetoric and we’ll all keep laughing at you. Like majority laugh at Grapes these days. But you keep thinking you and him are smarter and more civilized than everyone else.
Doesn’t that spot on the window over there look tastey?
Welcome back Wilf! You are much more entertaining when you are yelling, screaming, ranting, and babbling aimlessly. A few recent attempts at level-headed takes containing no exclamation points had me wondering about an imposter. Glad that you are back on your amusing A game.