Article: Wild Can't Sacrifice Gustavsson To Keep Fleury Next Season

[Tony Abbott]

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[FredJohnson]

1 more year in the A for the Wall while MAF and Gus Bus share the load in the N.

[Dis-allowed display name]

Ditch Fleury and his $4 mill per.   Bring in Wallstedt or don't, but if you don't get some backup on a minimum deal.  Fleury is not a future starter, and not worth $4 mill part time.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

Quote

If the former Vezina Winner decides he's not willing to hang up his pads next year, general manager Bill Guerin has to make a difficult decision. Will he bring back the 40-year-old goalie for another one-year deal? Or will Guerin lock up his former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate to a multi-year contract?

You had me for a moment there. If there was some question of a multi-year deal, I was going to be strongly against that.

Fleury had a brilliant string of 7 games prior to his last 2, but the overall work in his last 10 games was just an .897 save percentage, and he's allowed 5 goals against in 3 of them. He's had a great career, but it's probably time to bring in the Wall so that he's NHL ready for the following year when they intend to compete and will need him to compete.

Kochetkov saw time in 24 games last year at age 23, with solid results, and has now become a top option in Carolina, facing nearly twice as many shots as the next guy.

Wallstedt has been a little up and down for Iowa but has had periods of really strong play. He turns 22 around the start of next season and might be ready for NHL work next year. Joel Hofer saw a handful of games with the Blues last year and had been contributing decently at age 23 for them this season. Wallstedt was drafted higher and could be ready sooner.

On the other hand, the Wild don't really have anyone in the pipeline to backup the top 2 if Gus and the Wall are in the NHL, so having Fleury around could maybe make sense as long as they still intend for him to be a backup and reduce his contract substantially.

[Citizen Strife]

I think Fleury has shown an insane flexibility and energy that people 10 years his junior don't even have.  I can't say whether he is demonstrably better than Gus, but I think Fleury is in control of his destiny.  He doesn't look like a guy ready to retire.  Nor should he.  It looks like a guy who still have passion, and that is something the team could really benefit from, as long as they have him.

If Fleury wants to come back, Guerin would be smart to do 1 year deals on a sub-$3m salary.  Gus should also be given some rope to prove this year was a fluke slump year.  Wallstedt has a ton of years left.  The other benefit of giving Wallstedt more time is building rapport with some of the newer defenders that are going to be important depth pieces.  

Between the weird choices to cut bait, I would say Gus is way more likely to be thrown out than Rossi.  However, Gus and Fleury aren't on the worst cap hits given the situation.  $3-4 million is serviceable pay for both and old guy with energy left, and a new guy trying to prove this year really fucking sucked.  I don't think you could go wrong either option.  I think Fleury is given one more year until is absolutely shown he just can't go at all.  I didn't see any sign his flexibility and unique approach was rapidly fading.  He looks like a guy who could still play his ass off in a split rotation.

You can't really go wrong.

Fleury and Gus stay: Run it back to see if they were at fault for if the injuries and shit depth were the issue.

Fleury stays, Gus goes: Wallstedt gets his reps, and the Wild get him up quicker.  He probably has to work super hard, cause Fleury is retiring way sooner than Gus would be.

Gus stays, Fleury retires: The optimal situation; Gus is younger, while played worse than Fleury.  He has less mileage.  Wallstedt would probably learn well behind a guy playing a similar style (does anyone play like Fleury does)?

Guerin is going to give Fleury the choice.  It's a year by year process.  Guerin's only mistake would be giving Fleury multiple years.

 

[Burnt Toast]

The Wild have made it known that they’re all in to compete for the playoffs every year. So… with cap $ at a premium next year either Gus or MAF has to go. I’d keep Gus and roll the dice with the Wall. He’s got enough confidence and hockey family history to ride out the likelihood of a steep learning curve. No matter what direction the Wild decide to go in it’s going to be with a lot of built in risk. At least having another couple million to spend on players is a sure bet with the Wall. I’m ready for a change next season maybe this is the right one.

[Fezig]

Both goalies were victims of shoddy defense and that has certainly hurt their numbers. With that said, those numbers won't reflect well on Gus and I'd suspect it wouldn't yield much in a trade. Combine that with the knowledge the Wild are behind the 8 ball with the salary cap other teams will know it's more of a desperation move for them. 

It would be a shame to see the Flower skate off after a poor team performance. If he sees potential with the squad he'll want to come back for one more playoff run.

[mnfaninnc]

17 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Kochetkov saw time in 24 games last year at age 23, with solid results, and has now become a top option in Carolina, facing nearly twice as many shots as the next guy.

We have to take Kochetkov in context. He was the break glass in case of emergency goalie for Carolina. Andersen went down with blood clots and Raanta just can't stay healthy. For awhile, they had Kochetkov and some guy they claimed off waivers as their duo. This happened 2 years ago in the playoffs too, and last year. Sometimes, circumstances dictate when you make the N. 

[mnfaninnc]

16 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

I didn't see any sign his flexibility and unique approach was rapidly fading.  He looks like a guy who could still play his ass off in a split rotation.

I didn't see the signs in the flexibility, but I have seen the signs in reflexes. Once that starts to happen, and believe me, I know, it's falling off a cliff very quickly. I'd move on and just bring up The Wall and run with him and Goose. I think The Wall has learned what he can from the A and is ready to back up Goose. 

Under this scenario, we need a solid #3 in Iowa. 

[Protec]

Why do Euros so often go to shit after they sign a contract? Do they really care about winning enough or are they just interested in being good when it matters to them? 

Remember Gaborik playing racing simulators while being out of the lineup for the Wild? Almost like he didn't give a crud? 

I don't think MN players are genuine enough about winning as a group. Some, yes. Other's are just along for a ride. 

[Will D. Ness]

11 minutes ago, Protec said:

Why do Euros so often go to shit after they sign a contract?  

I've seen many examples of this across all sports.  Actually, the complacency even goes beyond sports.  Hunger is a motivation that all people lose when they get a little prime rib.

Actually, I think Swedes are tougher than most fair weather Americans.

[Protec]

That's true I suppose but it's a reputation for Euro NHL guys.

In fact HOF guys will even say the most talented guys were sometimes the guys who flunked out of the NHL cause they just didn't show up to play most of the time.

[Patrick]

If you can trade Gustafson then do it. I'm ok with Fluery and Wallstedt next year as long as Fluery is on a one year deal below $2 million.  Let's be honest. Next year is about evaluating young talent and needs for the 5 year window following. If the Wild make the playoffs that's great but it shouldn't be the priority.

[Will D. Ness]

2 hours ago, Protec said:

That's true I suppose but it's a reputation for Euro NHL guys.

In fact HOF guys will even say the most talented guys were sometimes the guys who flunked out of the NHL cause they just didn't show up to play most of the time.

Sometimes drinking beers and getting laid is more fun than practice.

[joebou15]

Personally, I was leery of reacting to one solid season from Gustavsson and him parleying that into a multi-year deal. There was a reason he was available for the lowly price of a pissed off Talbot. 

 

That said, he is young, affordable, has experience, and under team control. The other guy has experience, but is neither young nor under team control following this season. 

The right move is to thank Fleury for all the fish and let some other team take him on for his retirement tour. 

But this team hasn't been able to make the right move for quite some time now.

[Protec]

1 hour ago, Patrick said:

If you can trade Gustafson then do it. I'm ok with Fluery and Wallstedt next year as long as Fluery is on a one year deal below $2 million.  Let's be honest. Next year is about evaluating young talent and needs for the 5 year window following. If the Wild make the playoffs that's great but it shouldn't be the priority.

I was the guy saying they should have traded Gus last Summer after his hot season while value was highest. 

[Willy the poor boy]

4 hours ago, joebou15 said:

There was a reason he was available for the lowly price of a pissed off Talbot. 

'There was a reason he was available for the lowly price of a pissed off Guerin.'

Fixed it for ya... 

[Protec]

MAF saying a one-year deal is what he'd be looking for...

https://www.nhl.com/news/marc-andre-fleury-may-return-to-minnesota-in-2024-2025-season

[Pewterschmidt]

12 minutes ago, Protec said:

MAF saying a one-year deal is what he'd be looking for...

https://www.nhl.com/news/marc-andre-fleury-may-return-to-minnesota-in-2024-2025-season

Is this because Guerin think's Wallstedtzy is not ready (see signing Fred Evason as Rossi insurance), or because Gus is being dealt in off-season?  Or because they want to add MAF to goalie coaching staff/stable of NHL vets (Modano, Hendricks, Bombardier)

Edited March 29 by Pewterschmidt

[Willy the poor boy]

3 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Is this because Guerin think's Wallstedtzy is not ready (see signing Fred Evason as Rossi insurance), or because Gus is being dealt in off-season?  Or because they want to add MAF to goalie coaching staff/stable of NHL vets (Modano, Hendricks, Bombardier)

If Fleury wants to get into coaching my guess would be Pit would welcome him and that's where he'd be coaching.