Minnesota Wild Signs Goaltender John Curry

Swedish rookie Johan Gustafsson has all the makings of an elite NHL netminder. The Minnesota Wild’s signing of John Curry may help improve his chances of developing into one. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

According to the team’s website, the Minnesota Wild has signed minor league goaltender John Curry to a two-way National Hockey League contract.

A native of Shorewood, Minnesota, Curry has spent this season going back and forth between the AHL’s Iowa Wild and the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears. In 12 games with Iowa this season, the former Boston University goaltender has notched a 6-3-2 record to go with a 1.95 goals against average and a .939 save percentage. In 13 games with Orlando, Curry has put together 10-2-0 record, a 2.66 goals against average and a .917 save percentage in his seventh season of professional hockey.

While it may come as a surprise to some, all this move does is give Wild GM Chuck Fletcher more call-up options than just Johan Gustafsson. Gustafsson, while superbly talented, is still a very raw option at this point. Instead of constantly being called to keep the seat warm as Darcy Kuemper’s backup, his development would be much better served by receiving regular playing time as a team’s starting netminder. This signing gives Fletcher the ability to keep Gustafsson consistently developing.

Curry, 29, is an older, more experienced netminder that has been known to play exceptionally well in the past, earning attention as a former top-10 Hobey Baker Award finalist and Hockey East Player of the Year. His play was good enough for Fletcher–then with the Pittsburgh Penguins as Assistant GM–to sign him to an entry level deal right out of college. In four games over the course of two seasons with the Pens, Curry would notch a 2-2 record to go with a 3.67 goals against average and a .867 save percentage.

The Wild brass are hoping his services won’t be needed at the organization’s highest level of play, but Curry’s got the ability to man the crease and stop a few pucks when needed. That’s all Minnesota’s asking should worse come to worse.

For the full release from wild.com, click here.