HALLETT: Wild Goalie Conundrum Continues Into New Season

Written by Nicolas Hallett

Last season the Minnesota Wild were the only NHL team to have four goalies start double digit games. It was a confounding problem as each time a starter made the position his own he would unceremoniously find himself placed on injured reserve.

The problem threatened to derail Minnesota on multiple occasions during their turnaround season that ended with them coming within two wins of reaching the Western Conference Finals. But each and every time a new man was given the reins to the crease he stepped up and ran with the opportunity.

Josh Harding started the season on fire. The then-29-year-old actually finished the regular season as the league leader in both goals against average (1.65) and save percentage (.933), the two most prominent statistics for the position. Unfortunately for the Wild, Harding was only able to start 26 games of the 82-game season due to complications with multiple sclerosis.

Next up was veteran Niklas Backstrom, who had been the unquestioned starter for the Wild multiple years prior. The 36-year-old Finlander recorded 37 wins in 2009 and was the runner-up for the prized Vezina Trophy. Even without their new No. 1, the Wild appeared to be in safe hands. Not quite. Injuries limited Backstrom to just 21 appearances where he recorded a mere five wins to go along with a 3.02 GAA and a .899 SV%, ranking him as the worst Wild goalie statically speaking by a wide margin.

That left burgeoning minor league product Darcy Kuemper to carry the load far sooner than the franchise would have ever expected of its sixth-round pick in 2009. The front office knew this would be too much for the then-23-year-old goaltender and smartly brought in cover by trading a fourth-round pick for Ilya Bryzgalov at the trade deadline.

The unlikely duo did what they could and performed admirably, but taking down the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks was always going to be a tall task.

“Well, at least there's no way that will happen next season.”

Or so many Wild fans would have thought.

Yet, goalie troubles have reared their ugly head once again at the Xcel Energy Center even before the 2014-15 season can kick off.

Presumed fully healthy, Harding would likely have entered the season as the starting netminder based on his stellar start to last year’s campaign. But the struggles of the 30-year-old have gone from disheartening to bizarre. Harding has been suspended indefinitely by the team after it was discovered he fractured his right foot in an off-ice incident.

"I can't really say much about it," Wild coach Mike Yeo told Chad Graff of the Pioneer Press at the time. "It came about. It's something that was dealt with internally. … Those are never easy things to deal with, but something was done that, we determined, needed (a suspension)."

The injury would force Harding out for months anyway. The move to discipline him shows the Wild wanted to send a message to their goalie, while also recouping some much-needed finances by not paying him his $1.9 million salary while he’s out.

That money was needed, in part, because Kuemper was holding out all summer for a new and improved contract after going from minor leaguer to playoff starter. The Wild and general manager Chuck Fletcher held firm for as long as they could, and for a fleeting moment it appeared Kuemper might actually depart for the KHL in Russia.

“That got out there, but that was never my intention,” Kuemper told 105 The Ticket. “There were some teams offering from over there, but obviously that’s not where you want to be.”

Lo and behold, Harding’s loss was Kuemper’s gain and the team re-signed him to a two-year, one-way contract shortly after Harding’s suspension was announced.

Backstrom, meanwhile, managed to avoid any controversy during the offseason, but that may be because he was busy on the medical table, as the veteran had two major surgeries over the summer.

Early in camp, Backstrom said he was feeling “pretty good” but wasn’t quite at full health yet. In his most recent performance, Backstrom looked spry and made 33 saves against a quality St. Louis Blues team on Oct. 2.

With Bryzgalov getting the chop Monday morning and Harding out an elongated amount of time, that leaves Backstrom and Kuemper to duke it out for the spot between the pipes.

From what we know about Yeo, his lineup is always fluid, so it’s unlikely he’d ever anoint one of his goalies as “the guy.” That said, someone has to start opening night against the Colorado Avalanche. That left training camp and the preseason, which ended on Saturday, to choose between Backstrom and Kuemper.

“Both guys had good camps,” Yeo said Saturday night, “… and they’re ready for their opportunity. So we’ll have to make a decision going forward.”

Kuemper looked far sharper in his exhibition appearances as he entered Saturday with a 1.21 goals against average and 95.8 save percentage compared to Backstrom’s 2.42 GAA and 90.8 SV%. But without Ryan Suter in the lineup, Kuemper allowed four goals to St. Louis, which was sitting the majority of its star players, leaving the starting job up for grabs once again.

“We gave up four goals tonight, but it’s hard to sit here and say Kuemps wasn’t good in that game because the goals we gave up, he had no chance on,” Yeo said. “Those were big breakdowns and empty nets that he’s got no time to recover on.”

In the near-term expect the Wild to begin with a tandem approach. But make no mistake, with Harding’s health issues and Backstrom’s age, the long-term solution in goal is Kuemper. I think you’ll see the Wild lean this way and allow him to take more sole ownership of the position if he can get off to a hot start.

There’s also every chance Backstrom, realizing this is possibly his last hoorah in the NHL, could find a way to recapture his best form and grab the job for himself. All the while, Harding is still waiting in the wings and promising to throw a wrench in everything.

Based off last season and the struggles of late, one thing is certain when it comes to the Wild goalie situation: nothing is certain.