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The Minnesota Wild have one major need as we await the upcoming Olympic break, followed by the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline. The Wild have made no secret of their quest to find a major upgrade at center.
Minnesota was already weak up the middle, prior to president of hockey ops Bill Guerin trading (C) Marco Rossi (plus a boatload more) to Vancouver in exchange for elite defenseman, Quinn Hughes.
Everywhere else on the ice, Guerin & Co. feel like they have a roster capable of making the organization’s first deep playoff run in two decades. In fact, it’s possible they may feel too good in net.
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Starter goalie Filip Gustavsson — 17-9-6 | 2.62 GAA | .907 SV% — is under contract through 2030-31 and continues to be one of the better and more reliable netminders in all of hockey, as long as he has a decent defense in front of him, which he absolutely has right now.
Meanwhile, 2021 No. 20 overall pick Jesper Wallstedt’s resurgent season — 12-5-4 | 2.70 GAA | .912 SV% — has the entire league feeling much better about his future again, which could prove to be very important for the Minnesota Wild over the coming weeks.
Marc-Andre Fleury struggling with retirement
Which brings us to an article posted Monday at The Athletic by insiders Michael Russo and Joe Smith. Apparently, Marc-Andre Fleury is itching for a return to the ice, after being retired for a whopping eight months.
Fleury retired after last season, but there’s a part of him that wishes he was still between the pipes.
“I still miss it,” Fleury told The Athletic on Saturday night. “I still miss playing, miss the boys, miss the compete, trying to have a goal of winning. The feeling of winning a game. I miss that for sure.”
Fleury admitted walking away from the game has been tougher than he thought.
“Last year, I was done, in my head,” he said. “But being home and not having that goal to get something, try to go win something, it’s not easy.”
Fleury may enjoy more time with his kids and he’s undoubtedly dealing with dad/husband guilt, given everything his family has sacrificed during his Hall of Fame NHL career. But MAF does not sound like a guy who is enjoying his retirement.
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And if Marc-Andre Fleury really is considering an unretirement ceremony, there are suitors already waiting at his door. Fleury told The Athletic that he’s already received inquiries from multiple teams, some of which have called him up more than once this season.
That raises the question of whether a team could lure Fleury out of retirement this season. A handful of teams have called him, with a couple making legitimate offers and still checking in with him on a regular basis.
Because Guerin gave up so much for Quinn Hughes the trade asset cupboards are pretty bare in St. Paul. As a result, according to Russo and Smith, the Wild are offering Wallstedt in trade talks for elite center help.
When you think about it, moving Wallsted almost makes too much sense, if Guerin gets the right opportunity. There’s really no reason for Minnesota to roster two of Team Sweden’s three 2026 Olympic goalies.
Sweden’s men’s Olympic hockey roster is officially here.🇸🇪 #MilanoCortina2026 pic.twitter.com/OtRWqwcMgm
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 2, 2026
The 23-year-old probably has prospective trade partners drooling over what his future could hold. Elite goalie prospects do not grow on trees. But for a team with Stanley Cup dreams in 2026, Wallstedt has yet to prove he can handle a pressure packed NHL Playoff run.
He’s been absolutely unbelievable for stretches this season, but he’s also had wild (no pun intended) swings of poor play that have cost his team any hope they had of coming out victorious, despite how the rest of the team plays.
Combine that with Wallstedt’s struggles mentally last season, when he completely imploded on himself, resulting in him being one of the worst goalies in minor league hockey… it’s easy to see why the Minnesota Wild would be willing to move him for center help, especially if Marc Andre-Fleury is available to fill in for him
Marc-Andre Fleury back to MN Wild makes too much sense
MAF still says it’s unlikely he returns, but The Athletic says much of that may have to do with the conflict of interest caused if he leaves Minnesota.
Guerin’s had Fleury in on private meetings that literally nobody else in the organization is privy to, and he’s expected to join the Wild in a more concrete capacity next year. Plus, his family is here and he isn’t moving them.
Bill Guerin has welcomed [Fleury] with open arms into his front office in a type of shadowing situation. At many home games, Fleury sits in the executive suite in the press box alongside management. He just traveled to Arizona to be part of the team’s midseason organizational scouting meetings, where he got to hear and add his two cents on lots of proprietary information.
So it could be awkward for Fleury to sign with another team at this point. Just imagine if he signed with a Western Conference team that the Wild end up facing in the playoffs
Suddenly, the path to unretirement has near-impossible obstacles to overcome, if Fleury has to leave Minnesota to make it happen. However, a trade of Jesper Wallstedt wouldn’t just make a spot for MAF on the depth chart… it could make his return a necessity because adding anyone else would cost the Wild more.
Russo and Smith made it very clear that they have no steam on this happening, yet, and Guerin has NOT approached Fleury about a comeback. They are just connecting the dots…
To be clear, this is total conjecture. We know for a fact the Wild haven’t broached this option at all with Fleury. But given Fleury has admitted that he misses playing and feels at times “lost” and will get the opportunity next month to get into game shape, it got our minds churning — because if Wallstedt is dealt or one of their two goalies is injured in Milan, the Wild would need a goalie.
The Athletic
Mentioned in this article: Jesper Wallstedt Marc-Andre Fleury
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