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Minnesota Wild: Darcy Kuemper vs Niklas Backstrom

By Zach Roethlisberger

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The Minnesota Wild have concluded their preseason by defeating the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night by a score of 6-1. The Wild finished the preseason at 4-2, with their two losses coming against the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers. The preseason has presented many questions as to what variables may come into play during the 2015 regular season. One of those being the backup goaltender situation, as it is again unclear on what will develop at the position.

The Wild were very fortunate in making one of the biggest trades in franchise history in acquiring goalie Devan Dubnyk from Arizona last year, who proved to be the premier goaltender they have needed for so long.

Dubynk was simply phenomenal for the Wild as he appeared in 39 games for the team. He won 27 of those, while posting a remarkable goals against average at 1.78, with a .936 save percentage. Without Dubynk’s lights out play, the Wild would not have made the playoffs, plain and simple.

Even though Dubnyk was sensational last season, the Wild will still need to develop some consistency at the backup goaltender position to gain a little more backbone this season.

Mar 28, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk (40) in the second period against the Los Angeles Kings at Xcel Energy Center. The Minnesota Wild beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Which brings us to the debate as to who will emerge as the starting backup goaltender this year.

The candidates, Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom, will both compete for that title and we’ve seen a mixed bag of results from them throughout the 2015 preseason.

Since breaking out in the 2006-07 season, Backstrom has had a roller coaster outing here in Minnesota. Right now the Wild are paying him $4,000,000 with a $3,416,667 hit against their salary cap. It’s no secret that you do not want to be paying your back up goaltender in the upwards of three to four million dollars, but the Wild felt they had a premier situation when signing Backstrom to an extension in 2013.

It’s no secret that Backstrom’s time in Minnesota has run its course, but they potentially could be counting on him to be a solid backup for Dubnyk this year. Backstrom, who is 37, carried a 5-7-3 record a year ago, with a 3.04 goals against average.

He had surgery on his elbow this off-season, and looked stout in the preseason. He produced a shutout against the Winnipeg Jets on September 22nd.

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Kuemper, on the other hand, was a little bit off this preseason which was amplified by giving up three goals against the Buffalo Sabres on 19 shots, in the teams preseason opener. He appeared in 31 games for the Wild last season, and accumulated a record of 14-12-2. He had a 2.60 goals against average, with a .905 save percentage.

He was solid at best before the Wild acquired Dubnyk, but not the guy you wanted as your starting net minder for an entire season. His “shakey” performance in the preseason was noticeable, especially with Backstrom looked great throughout training camp.

It seems to be a mystery who the Wild are leaning towards at this moment, but whoever emerges will create some seriously controversy in being expected to relieve Dubnyk this year. It appears as if Backstrom is the boom or bust option, while Kuemper is that solid, you know what you’re going to get option.

Dubnyk showed longevity last season, but either Kuemper or Backstrom will also be expected to step up and contribute to a playoff run this season.

Hopefully we do not need to see much of either one of them, but it definitely is a story line to follow as we move into the regular season.

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