By Thomas Williams -
The NHL's trade deadline is just days away on March 8, and with the Minnesota Wild deep in the playoff hunt, they have decided not to part ways with one player who could have potentially been on the move.
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Wild have made it clear that they will not be trading goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury before the trade deadline. They will instead keep the legendary netminder for their own postseason effort.
Fleury, 39, is in the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Considering that during the 2024-25 season he will be turning 40 years old, Fleury has already made it clear that he will be thinking about his future and decide whether or not to retire at the end of this season -- so being a free agent might be a moot point.
Regardless, we are not sure Fleury would be willing to get traded before the deadline, anyways. With a No-Move Clause in-hand, the experienced veteran would have the final word on any trade and would need to actually want to make a quick appearance for a Stanley Cup contender over the next few months.
Instead, the team and player will have each other going forward, and it makes the most sense from both sides. Fleury doesn't have to move and doesn't even have to be approached about a trade, and the Wild get a good goaltender. Since Filip Gustavsson has not returned to what he was last season as a dark-horse Vezina Trophy candidate, the team needs Fleury as possibly the best security blanket in between the pipes in the whole league.
This does not mean that the Wild will be completely inactive during the trade deadline, though.
According to multiple sources, the Wild's Brandon Duhaime is having his name spread around the trade rumor mill and the pending unrestricted free agent could be sold at a fairly decent price before the March 8 deadline.
The Wild might just be able to have their cake and eat it too. Compete for the playoffs while also benefitting from providing another team with a playoff rental and getting a draft pick or a prospect for the future.
While some fans were hoping for a desperate team to pay big for the experienced Fleury, at least they might get the same joy out of a different transaction.
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