SB Nation Minnesota - Wild Have No Plans To Trade Niklas Backstrom, Want Tandem In Goalhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48959/mn-fave.png2012-06-20T16:38:58-05:00http://minnesota.sbnation.com/rss/stream/28683722012-06-20T16:38:58-05:002012-06-20T16:38:58-05:00Wild Have No Plans To Trade Niklas Backstrom, Want Tandem In Goal
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<p>When the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.hockeywilderness.com/">Minnesota Wild</a> came to terms on a<a href="http://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-wild/2012/6/19/3097352/wild-come-to-terms-on-multi-year-deal-with-josh-harding/in/2868372"> three-year contract extension with backup goaltender Josh Harding</a> on Tuesday afternoon, it took a mere moments for some to question whether this meant the end of incumbent starter <span>Niklas Backstrom's</span> tenure. Considering that the Wild have made it clear that they <a href="http://www.hockeywilderness.com/2012/6/10/3075868/zach-parise-files-is-the-great-hope-a-package-deal-with-ryan-suter">plan to be active in this year's free agent market</a>, its not outlandish to think that the team may want to relieve themselves of the $6 million cap hit Backstrom is set to take up in 2012-13.</p>
<p>Before that kind of speculation could get out of hand, Minnesota's general manager Chuck Fletcher quickly put the thought to rest.</p>
<p>Via <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/17786/rumblings-trade-talk-is-heating-up">ESPN</a>:</p>
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<p>"Not at all," Wild GM Chuck Fletcher told ESPN.com. "We believe we need a strong one-two punch in goal. We've got that with Josh and Nik. We have no interest in disrupting that. You look around the league and you see the importance of having depth in goal. That's what we want." </p>
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<p>Backstrom has one year remaining on a four-year, $24 million contract he signed prior to the 2009-10 season. </p>
<p><i>For more on the Minnesota Wild, check out</i><a href="http://www.hockeywilderness.com/"><i> </i><i>Hockey Wilderness</i></a><i>. You can check out more hockey news from around the league at</i><a href="http://sbnation.com/nhl"><i> </i><i>SB Nation's NHL page</i></a><i>, or watch SB Nation's YouTube channel:</i></p>
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https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-wild/2012/6/20/3104340/wild-have-no-plans-to-trade-niklas-backstrom-want-tandem-in-goalMatt Brigidi2012-06-19T13:03:24-05:002012-06-19T13:03:24-05:00Wild Come To Terms On Multi-Year Deal With Josh Harding
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<p>The Minnesota Wild have come to terms on a three-year extension with goaltender Josh Harding. </p> <p>On Tuesday afternoon, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.hockeywilderness.com/">Minnesota Wild</a> announced via the team's official twitter account that the club had come to terms on a multi-year extension with pending unrestricted free agent goaltender, <span>Josh Harding</span>. Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting that it is a three-year, $5.7 million deal with an annual cap-hit of $1.9 million.</p>
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<p>Source: Josh Harding signs a three-year, $5.7 million deal with <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523mnwild">#mnwild</a> ($1.9 AAV)</p>
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) <a href="https://twitter.com/Russostrib/status/215137330074357762" data-datetime="2012-06-19T17:41:51+00:00">June 19, 2012</a>
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<p>The 28-year old netminder registered a 13-12-4 record with a 2.62 goals against average and .917 save percentage in 34 appearances last season. Harding is excited at the prospects of the Wild's future and hopes to prove that he is capable of being a starting goaltender in the NHL.</p>
<p>Via the team's <a href="http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=635133">official site</a>:</p>
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<p>"I love being here, I love the city, I love the fans," Harding said. "It was really important for me to stay here and work towards my goal (of being a starting goaltender in the NHL)."</p>
<p>"Ever since I was drafted I've wanted to be the number one goalie for the Minnesota Wild," Harding said. "Obviously that's not going to be given to me.</p>
<p>"Hopefully, one day, I'll be able to take over."</p>
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<p>To this point Harding has played backup up to 2009 Vezina finalist <span>Niklas Backstrom</span>, who is signed through the 2012-13 season prior to becoming an unrestricted free agent next offseason.</p>
<p><i>For more on the Minnesota Wild, check out</i><a href="http://www.hockeywilderness.com/"><i> </i><i>Hockey Wilderness</i></a><i>. You can check out more hockey news from around the league at</i><a href="http://sbnation.com/nhl"><i> </i><i>SB Nation's NHL page</i></a><i>, or watch SB Nation's YouTube channel:</i></p>
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https://minnesota.sbnation.com/minnesota-wild/2012/6/19/3097352/wild-come-to-terms-on-multi-year-deal-with-josh-hardingMatt Brigidi