Feb. 28: It appears Fleury and the Wild are now solidly on the same page. Minnesota is informing teams they won’t be moving the veteran netminder ahead of the deadline, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Feb. 25: Wild netminder Marc-André Fleury has indicated he’d prefer to stay with the Wild as they attempt to stay in the Western Conference playoff race, Joe Smith of The Athletic relayed Sunday. As such, it appears unlikely he’ll waive his no-movement clause ahead of the March 8 trade deadline and will finish out the season in Minnesota.
“I don’t want to just quit, right?” Fleury said to Smith after the Wild’s 5-2 win over the Kraken on Saturday. “I want us to make the playoffs. That’s my first priority. I think being in the hunt, it’s fun, it’s challenging. And I want to be here and see this team make the playoffs.”
In the final season of a two-year, $7MM extension, the 39-year-old Fleury could regain the starting role in the Minnesota crease with Filip Gustavsson struggling if they manage to squeak into the postseason. Neither he nor Gustavsson has been above average, but he’s put up slightly better surface-level numbers with a .899 SV% and 2.92 GAA in 24 starts and four relief appearances. Gustavsson, on the other hand, has a .896 SV% and 3.23 GAA in 33 starts and one relief appearance.
Fleury has started five of nine games since returning from an upper-body injury sustained before the All-Star break. The Wild are 7-1-1 in that timeframe, firmly putting them back in postseason contention after they looked far out of place just a few weeks ago. They’re two points behind the Predators for the final Wild Card spot in the West.
Regardless of his intentions, there will likely be a fair amount of trade interest in Fleury over the coming days from contending teams looking to supplant a weaker starter with a better backup option. If the Wild can maintain a winning record between now and the deadline, however, it seems unlikely Fleury will green-light a deal.
Fleury has ZERO value these days and the Wild won’t make the playoffs.
You are the same babbler who told us that the Bruins forwards were a collection of fourth liners who would struggle to score, that the Bruins would finish bottom five in scoring, and would finish sixth in their division. Your takes tend to have zero value.
The season is on going and the Bruins are fading, Let’s wait until the end of the current campaign and see where they end up.
Fading?!? They are one point behind Vancouver for most points in the league and have played one fewer game. They are ninth in league scoring.
They were actually running away with there division but not anymore, We’ll see where they end up.
Fleury hasn’t had playoff value since 2009. He’s either been benched or choked the season away for his team every year since his one Cup win. He’s always had good regular season stats playing on loaded teams, but craps the bed once the playoff pressure is on.
It is “their division.
Everyone said that about Quick
Always bet against anything Wilf believes in
Gambling is for fools!!
Do it alot do you!!
Thank God! After all Bill Guerin is competing for the Stanley Cup! Just ask him.
Raise your hockey IQ and lower your stress level by blocking Wilf and the guy who always argues with him ..
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Thanks for the tip. I enjoy Wilf’s takes but a few others I may want to mute. Rodney was the best btw! The youngins need to go watch him way back on Johnny Carson. Hilarious!
Guerin is a fool.
Let’s set the record straight, It’s not that Minnesota refused to trade Fleury, He didn’t want to leave, Funny how Guerin is trying to save face here when in fact Fleury had all the control.