Some off-season deals seem pre-ordained. It’s hard to argue with the suggestion the Wild should trade goalie Manny Fernandez, use the contract savings to re-sign Niklas Backstrom and promote Josh Harding to No. 2 status.
Backstrom and Fernandez won the NHL’s William Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders for the club finishing the regular season with the fewest team goals against. The trophy is awarded to the goaltenders that played in a minimum of 25 games on the team allowing the fewest goals in the regular season. The Wild allowed a league-low 191 goals. Backstrom played in 41 games, Fernandez in 44.
Backstrom, 29, signed a one year contract with the Wild prior to last season. He went from backup to star in one season after Fernandez was injured. Fernandez played enough to become the first goalie in franchise history to win a career 100 games.
Talk is the Los Angeles Kings may be interested in acquiring Fernandez, 32, during the off-season. Three years younger, Backstrom is closer to his peak years than Fernandez. Then, too, it’s hard to imagine losing a guy who performed so spectacularly. He becomes a free agent, able to sign with any team, on July 1.
Backstrom led the NHL with a 1.96 per game goals against average and had a 93% save average during the regular season. He had five shutouts and in 38 of 41 games allowed three goals or less. He even became the first goalie in the NHL’s modern era to earn two wins without starting the games.
Backstrom finished the season by making news in the North American hockey world. He was honored with the NHL’s Third Star for his final three games performance. He had a 3-0-0 record, 0.33 goals-against average, a 99% save percentage and two shutouts as the Wild (48-26-8, 104 points) finished second in the Northwest Division and seventh in the Western Conference.
With goal scoring absent in three of four games so far, the Wild haven’t been successful in the playoffs but Backstrom has been effective. He’s continued his consistent play from the regular season and allowed only eight total goals.
Backstrom played the past four seasons with Karpat Oulu of the Finnish Elite League, including back-to-back championship seasons in 2003-04 and 2004-05. He won 104 of the 177 games he played in the Finnish league, with a 104-36-37 record. He had 18 shutouts in four seasons with Karpat and never had a goals against average over 2.17.
If Fernandez doesn’t return and Backstrom does, Harding, 22, presumably has the opportunity to become the No. 2 goalie. He played in seven games for the Wild during the season, starting four.