Minnesota Wild: A look at the franchise’s goalie depth
Often referred to as the last line of defense, the goalie is just about as imp a leader as the quarterback is in football. Given that, here is a dive in the Minnesota Wild’s depth at the position with a look at each goalie in the system as well as thoughts towards the future.
Cam Talbot
Billy Guerin stated on the eve of last year’s free-agency period that the top priority for him and his staff was a goalie and that resulted in the signing of Cam Talbot. The veteran agreed to a 3-year, $11 million dollar deal.
In itself, it provided the Wild with not only stability in the goal but also bought them time with developing goalies in the system such as Kaapo Kahkonen, Hunter Jones and Dereck Baribeau.
Talbot started the season as the Wild’s No. 1 netminder, and boy, did he own the crease in Minnesota. Posting 19 wins and only eight regulation losses in 33 games , Talbot was tied for 11th in the entire league for wins.
All in all, it was a solid first season for Talbot in Minnesota — a great sign of stability and calmness in the crease moving forward.
Kaapo Kähkönen.
The former fourth-round pick of the Wild in 2014 blossomed into Minnesota this season and started to see real game time after the departure of goalie Alex Stalock.
It may have been a look into the future for the Wild and their fans as Kahkonen had an impressive streak of hockey as he tied for fifth in the longest win streak for a rookie goalie. Kahkonen went 9-0 over the course of starts between February and March.
His 16 wins are most by a Wild rookie goaltender in their history.
As for Kahkonen’s other numbers, he only had eight regulation losses during this season — same as Talbot — and posted two shutouts as well.
His performance was enough to kick him into the Calder trophy conversation at points during the season, an honor that teammate, Kirill Kaprizov , was named one of three finalists for.
Hunter Jones.
Picked up in the second round of the 2019 draft, Jones posted average numbers in his first year in the OHL with the Peterborough Petes. He had a save percentage of .913 and a goals against average of 2.75 in his final season in the OHL.
Last season, Jones spent his first professional season with the Iowa Wild posting a 3.50 goals against average and a .886 in save percentage which ranked him 40th in the entire AHL for goaltenders.
It’s not too early to throw the towel in on Jones as he will look to bounce back next season whether that be with Iowa or perhaps getting some developmental time with Minnesota’s new ECHL affiliate, the Iowa Heartlanders.
Dereck Baribeau.
Signed as an undrafted free-agent in 2017, Baribeau spent four years on three different teams in the QMJHL with his best season being the 2017-2018 season with the Quebec Remparts. He postied a 2.90 goals against average and .896 save percentage with a 22-11-5 record in 42 games.
Baribeau also has played parts of two seasons with the Iowa Wild and Allen Americans with his best chunk of time being with the latter. He posted a 2.74 goals against average and .914 save percentage in 15 games during the 2019-2020 season.
Additionally, he has spent time this season on the Wilds’ taxi squad including serving in a back-up role but did not see any NHL time.