Wild G Fleury shuts down trade talk: 'I’m not going anywhere'
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Marc-Andre Fleury is planning to stay put with the Minnesota Wild this off-season despite being relegated to a backup role in the postseason.
Fleury, who is under contract through next season at a $3.5 million cap, said he is willing to serve as a backup next season.
“I’m tired of moving. I’m not going anywhere,” Fleury said, per Michael Russo of The Athletic.
Fleury opened the postseason scheduled to split starts with breakout star Filip Gustavsson. He did not start again, however, after allowing seven goals on 31 shots in the team's Game 2 loss to the Dallas Stars.
The 38-year-old, who later stopped six shots in relief of Gustavsson as the Wild were eliminated in Game 6, called himself out after his lone start of the series.
"Oh man, embarrassing on my part giving up seven goals like that in the playoffs," Fleury said after Game 2. "You know, I want to come in and give a chance to my team to stay in the game and win, and that's not what I did. I gave up too many goals.
"I think we had to open up to try to come back in the game and we gave up more chances, but bottom line, I didn't make any good key saves in the game."
Fleury had a 24-16-4 with a .908 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average in the regular season, his second year with the Wild.
"It's a fine line between winning and losing," Fleury said after the team's postseason exit last week. "For me to have been done in the first round too many times, it's never easy. You always expect more from yourself or your team. The other team played well too. They try to win too, but it's still disappointing not to move on."
Gustavsson, who was acquired last summer in a trade with the Ottawa Senators, is a pending restricted free agent. He had a 22-9-7 record in the regular season with a .931 save percentage and a 2.10 GAA.
Dumba hopes to stay with Wild
Pending unrestricted free agent Matthew Dumba said Monday he hopes to re-sign with the Wild ahead of hitting unrestricted free agency on July 1.
“Definitely wasn’t the way I wanted it to end…I thought it would be different this year,”Dumba said of the team's first-round exit.
“I love Minny," he added. "My heart’s in Minny.”
Dumba, 28, had four goals and 14 points in 79 games with the Wild this season. He had two assists in six games against the Stars.
Selected seventh overall by the Wild in the 2012 NHL Draft, Dumba is coming off of a five-year, $30 million contract.