Marc-Andre Fleury chasing down history in what could be his last NHL season

St. Paul, Minn. - Marc-Andre Fleury hesitated day one when he was asked if he's thought about this training camp and season being his last. 

“Uh... I don't know." Fleury said.

He continued: "I think I just told myself we don't want to talk about it this summer and stuff," Fleury said. "I just told myself I would give it a season, see how it goes, see how I feel physically, mentally, if I still can stop the puck and just make a decision at the end. I don’t wanna think about it, think too much every game, you know, like, oh it’s going good, I’ll play again, and it’s going bad, I don’t wanna play anymore. There will be ups and downs this season. I just want to get through it and make a decision at the end.” 

Fleury, 38, about to be 39 is entering the season on the final year of his contract. This will be his second full season with the Wild after they acquired him at the deadline for a 2022 second round pick which turned into Ryan Greene. 

The Wild then signed Fleury to a two-year deal worth $7M ($3.5M AAV). The Wild's trade for Fleury forced Cam Talbot on the bench for the playoffs, as Fleury was the new starter. The following offseason the Wild traded Talbot to Ottawa for Filip Gustavsson. 

Gustavsson, 25, signed a three-year deal this offseason which had everyone believing he'd be the starter for the 2023-24 season with Fleury as the backup in the final year of his contract.

But yesterday at media availability, Wild head coach Dean Evason stated they will treat the goaltending situation just like they did last year and just play the one who's playing the best. 

Not only could this be Fleury's last year in the NHL but he is on pace to break some records and establish himself as one of the best goalies in NHL history, if he hasn't already established that. 

One record that he's chasing down is the all-time wins record for a goaltender. Fleury is seven wins away from tying Patrick Roy for second all-time and 44 games played to tie Roy for third all-time. 

"I've been asked about it a few times in a few days," Fleury said on passing Roy for second all-time in wins as a goalie. "I don't want to jinx it, that would be cool though, he's such an icon to me and too many kids. He's such a great goalie, it would be an honor just to be mentioned in the same sentence with him. That would be something that's pretty cool."

Most goaltenders don't usually play until they are 39 but Fleury is on pace to do so. Last year he showed he had a lot of ups and downs especially at the start of the year when Fleury and the Wild opened the season by allowing seven goals to the New York Rangers and then the Los Angeles Kings in back-to-back games.

“We gotta fix that from the start, you know, getting to it," Fleury said on having a better start to the season than last year's 14 goals allowed in the first two games and their 1-3-1 start. "It’s always better mentally when you start and you’re not down four, five games. Not so much catching up to do."

After Gustavsson's three-year contract extension most of us expect him to play 60 games but that won't be the indication to start the year. Gustavsson and Fleury will split time again and each game will be decided on who's playing better between the two of them.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t see my partners as competition. To me, the competition is with the other shooters, the puck, that’s where I need to win the battle," Fleury said on being a tandem with Gustavsson. "Both of us are there to help the team and try to get some wins. Obviously, I think both of us can play and help so, like I said, it’s for coach to decide.”

Last year Fleury went 24-16-4 with a .908 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average while Gustavsson went 22-9-7 with a .931 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average. 

By the end of the 2023-24 season it is expected that Gustavsson will play the majority of the games but who knows. Goaltenders are interesting and there really hasn't been a goaltender in the NHL who can consistently put up identical seasons so we will see how Gustavsson and Fleury can handle the year.