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Josh Harding is out for the season with a torn ACL and MCL. To replace him, the Wild have signed former Capitals goalie Jose Theodore.
As of this morning, Russo is reporting that deal for Jose Theodore is not yet complete. Things could change at any moment, and he sees it getting done, but as of yet… Anton Khudobin is still the back up.
From TSN and via Hockey Wilderness:
Montreal radio station CKAC is reporting that the Wild have signed goaltender Jose Theodore to a one-year, $1.1 million contract.
Theodore is expected to report to the Wild's AHL affiliate in Houston on Monday and will miss the Wild's trip to Europe to start the season. The Wild are set to face Finnish side Tampere on Monday before opening their season against the Hurricanes on Thursday in Helsinki.
Reports had suggested that Wild GM Chuck Fletcher was not entirely comfortable with the idea of using Anton Khudobin as his backup this season, and so Theodore will provide the necessary cover following Josh Harding's season-ending knee injury.
Theodore is coming off of back-to-back 30-win seasons with the Capitals, including a 30-7-8 mark last year. The 34-year-old had a .911 save percentage last year and a .900 percentage in 2008-09. He's probably best known for winning both the Vezina and Hart Trophies in 2002, for wearing a toque over his helmet during the 2003 Heritage Classic outdoor game in Edmonton, and for failing a drug test in 2006 thanks to hair-loss medication.
Michael Russo originally broke the news that Josh Harding had suffered from a torn ACL / MCL. It was unclear if that meant both or one of the two. It has now been confirmed by the official Minnesota Wild Twitter account (@MNWild) that is indeed, both ligaments. The tweet also confirmed the worst case scenario found a way to get worse, as Harding will miss the entire season.
Harding is scheduled to become an Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of this season, and the market for him seemed to be slim as it was. This is not good news for him, nor the team.
Speculation has already begun on what will happen at the backup position. Kevin Weekes has asked if the Wild will reach out to Jose Theodore, but that seems unlikely. With Anton Khudobin slated to be the back up in case of a trade, there seems to be no reason to go outside the organization at this point.
However, the play of Matthew Hackett or Josh Tordjman may need to step up for who becomes the number three in the organization.
More on this story as it happens both here at SBN Minnesota, and at your home for everything Wild, Hockey Wilderness.
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Theodore deal now done. (Thanks to @RussoStrib for the head's up.)
No sooner do we convey Russo’s belief from this morning that the Theodore deal is not done, and Russo now reports that the deal is done.
Oct 02 9:59a by Bryan Reynolds - 0 comments