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Minnesota Wild: Stalock’s Re-Up Secures Wild’s Goaltending Future

By Danny Lambert

Oct 2, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Alex Stalock (32) during a preseason hockey game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Hurricanes 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Alex Stalock (32) during a preseason hockey game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Hurricanes 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Minnesota Wild made a big move yesterday to secure and shape the future of their goaltending group by re-upping Alex Stalock for 2-years and $1.3 million.  His signing will allow for a lot of obvious and not so obvious roster flexablity in the future.

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Well that was a relief to see.  The Minnesota Wild finally put a few of their impending offseason questions to bed early with the re-signing of Alex Stalock yesterday afternoon to a two-year $1.3 million deal.  This extension comes at a time where Stalock, who was signed in the hopes of finding his game in the AHL, has been on a tear posting a very strong 0.952 save percentage and a 1.57 GAA in his last seven games and not allowing more than 3 goals in any of those games.

The biggest question this signing will answer will be who is going to be the second goaltender on the roster so that the Wild can protect Devan Dubnyk in the expansion draft.  Before the Wild locked in Stalock they would not have been able to meet the requirement to expose at least one goaltender due to Darcy Kuemper’s UFA status and not having a contract.  That would have left the Wild no choice but to expose Dubnyk to possible selection by Las Vegas, but now with two goaltenders under contract they can expose Stalock and protect Dubnyk.

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Stalock’s signing signals the Wild’s commitment to him and faith that he can step in and take the back-up role up in Minnesota.  They must feel as they declared at the beginning of the season that Stalock’s NHL level game and confidence have returned.  That obviously means that Kuemper’s days in a Wild sweater are numbered.

Jan 14, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper (35) makes a save on a Dallas Stars shot during the first period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 14, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper (35) makes a save on a Dallas Stars shot during the first period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

Kuemper’s contract will be expiring at the end of this season and the Wild will be looking to clear his $1.55 million contract for other players needing to be signed.  Stalock will only have a cap hit of $650,000 next season which frees up $900,000 in cap space which will be essential in helping to re-sign players like Niederreiter, Granlund, and Haula.

Besides the obvious savings in salary cap, the Wild look to not be losing any performance in their back-up netminder spot.  Looking at Stalock and Kuemper’s career stats side-by-side its very close with Stalock posting a career mark of 2.37 GAA and 0.911 save percentage in 62 games, and Kuemper putting up 2.56 GAA and 0.911 save percentage in 95 NHL contests.

Furthermore, looking ahead to the trade deadline, this move gives the Wild instant options to deal Kuemper if a team needs a goaltender.  Clearing Kuemper’s cap space could also play into being able to afford a deadline deal by pushing the Wild’s cap space up to about $1.3-$1.5 million which could be recapitalized into another forward.

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As GM Chuck Fletcher has admitted to Pierre LeBrun “We’ll keep looking at it” when asked about a possible trade.  “But I think the simplest thing will be to look at a rental-type scenario.”  That rental could be facilitated with a move of Kuemper, and furthermore as a rental player the acquired player could be dropped off the books in free-agency if let go and that extra $900,000 in cap space could be used as said earlier towards signing one of the Wild’s impending free-agents.

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Signing Stalock now is a shrewd move by Fletcher as it makes for a bit less of a stressful offseason, answers the Dubnyk protection question, and allows the Wild to lose some cap space and let Kuemper peruse a possibly bigger role with another club.  But make no mistakes about it Stalock has worked hard and earned this, and the Wild will be getting a goaltender who is ready to step back into a NHL backup role.  Also having another Minnesota kid on the roster is never a bad thing.

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