‘I don’t have shit to do’: Guerin speaks on goalie situation

Seconds after the Minnesota Wild inked goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to a two-year deal, questions surrounding how a tandem between him and veteran Cam Talbot would work, started to get raised. Fleury was brought to St. Paul as a late-season rental and was seen as a potential short-term fix on the abhorrent goaltending the Wild were getting before their eventual playoff appearance. But now with him under contract for two more years, and Talbot in the final year of his deal, there will have to be a balance of egos between two long-time professionals that no doubt want to both be starters.

Could they do a 50-50 split of games? Is it simply “riding the hot hand” as head coach Dean Evason ended up doing in the final weeks of the regular season? No one will know until the season starts, but we do know that one side might not be too pleased with Fleury’s extension.

During the second day of the 2022 NHL Draft, Wild GM Bill Guerin met with Talbot’s agent, and from what was reported, it seems that the agent was not too happy with his client certainly getting less game time than expected.

With this in mind, the typically dormant whirlwind of trade rumors started to blow hard. Any time Guerin would speak to an NHL general manager on the draft floor, a photo would be taken or a tweet would be tweeted; especially considering how many teams would love a solid goaltender like Talbot with the low-risk baggage of just one year of commitment.

But, Guerin is adamant that he doesn’t have to make a move, or really, do anything. He can let them sort it out themselves and act like professionals that have contracts to play for the Wild.

“I don’t have shit to do,” he said Friday. “Cam Talbot’s under contract. George can say whatever the hell he wants. My team’s set right now, and that’s the way it goes. So we can have all the discussions we want. Cam’s a member of our team. We really like Cam. All we’re trying to do is win. All we’re trying to do is have good, strong goaltending, and I think we have that.”

Fair play.

And according to Fleury, there is no problem with Talbot and they get along well enough to sort out being in the same tandem for longer than a couple months.

“I get along great with Cam,” Fleury said Friday. “He’s a good goalie and a good person. Sometimes it’s a little easier on the body too, I’m getting older so those rests in the season helps stay healthy and stay fresh when you’re playing.”

Hidden in there might be Minnesota’s rotation plan this season. Fleury is already 37 years old and he could certainly use a rest every now and again, so having one of the most dependable “backups” in the league doesn’t hurt, and there’s already a built-in familiarity that the Wild skaters would certainly appreciate every single night.

Whether Talbot’s agent causes more of a fuss — he reportedly wants a contract extension with a raise out of this, instead of a trade — and Guerin has to do something about it, or we head into the regular season with two very good goaltenders, is still a mystery. But regardless, as it stands right now, Guerin does not have to do shit.