3 questions facing Minnesota Wild
3 questions facing Minnesota Wild
Goalie rotation, Spurgeon’s impact in return from injuries among things to watch
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NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, three important questions facing the Minnesota Wild.
1. What will the goalie rotation look like?
Marc-Andre Fleury returns for what he said will be his final NHL season, along with Filip Gustavsson, who was rumored to be on the trade market.
Fleury went 17-15-5 with a 2.98 goals-against average, .895 save percentage and two shutouts in 40 games (36 starts) last season. The 39-year-old signed a one-year contract with Minnesota on April 17.
Gustavsson went 20-18-4 with a 3.06 goals-against average, .899 save percentage and three shutouts in 45 games (43 starts). Most of those numbers were down from 2022-23, his first season with Minnesota, when he was 22-9-7 with a 2.10 GAA, .931 save percentage and three shutouts.
“I’m great having him back with us,” Wild general manager Bill Guerin said of Gustavsson. “… He’s a good goalie. He had one great year here with us. Last year was not as good as his first year, but we’re looking for him to regain the form of the previous year and we still believe in him. This is not a bad thing. This is a good thing. We’re totally on board with it.”
The Wild could consider using three goalies this season in order to get Jesper Wallstedt, one of their top prospects, some more NHL action. The 21-year-old has played three NHL games, going 2-1-0 with the Wild last season.
“I think it puts us in a position of strength,” Guerin said. “We’ve got three good goalies in the organization again. We’ve shown that Jesper has definitely improved. I haven’t made decisions on anything moving forward.”
Fleury signs with Wild for one final season
2. Will Jared Spurgeon bounce back from injury?
The defenseman missed the first 13 games last season because of a shoulder injury sustained in the preseason, then was limited to 16 games (five assists) because of hip and back injuries, last playing Jan. 2.
The 34-year-old Minnesota captain had hip surgery Feb. 6 and back surgery about four weeks later. His offseason training has been on course, and he’s expected to be fully healthy for training camp.
“It’s tough, especially when you’re not in there during games to be able to really get the feel of everything,” Spurgeon said. “It’s so much different watching up top. … I was just trying to be around the group as much as possible during games, but you’re not in it, you don’t have the full feel. It’s definitely a tough thing to do, watching pretty much the entire year.”
3. Can they get more scoring depth?
The Wild had five forwards score at least 20 goals last season (Kirill Kaprizov, 46; Joel Eriksson Ek, 30; Matt Boldy, 29; Ryan Hartman, 21; Marco Rossi, 21), but there was a steep drop-off from there. Frederick Gaudreau (five goals in 67 games), Marcus Johansson (11 goals in 78 games) and Marcus Foligno (10 goals in 55 games) will be counted on to rebound, but Minnesota also could address the issue by acquiring help from outside the organization. Prospects Liam Ohgren and Marat Khusnutdinov also could be options.
“I really feel that … if the Johanssons, if the Gaudreaus, guys like that, and ‘Hartzy’ — even though Hartzy had 20 goals — if they can have better offensive years, which they’re capable of, then that will definitely help out,” Guerin said.
