The Minnesota Wild’s franchise leader in wins and shutouts is no longer with the team.
The Wild traded goaltender Niklas Backstrom to Calgary ahead of today’s NHL trade deadline, the team announced.
In return they get 31-year-old forward David Jones from the Flames – he’s got 15 points in 59 games with Calgary this season. He’s also second on the team in hits.
General Manager Chuck Fletcher said Jones – who is 6-foot-3 and 208 pounds – gives Minnesota a big, strong and versatile player with playoff experience.
As for Backstrom, Fletcher thanked the 38-year-old (who signed here as a free agent way back in 2006) for “putting the team first.”
Fletcher: I want to recognize everything Niklas Backstrom has done for this franchise. I give him a lot of credit for putting the team first
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 29, 2016
Backstrom leaves Minnesota with a record of 194-142-50, a 2.48 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage, and 28 shutouts in 409 career games with the Wild. He’s the franchise’s all-time leader in wins, shutouts and games played.
In 2009 he was a Vezina Trophy finalist, and appeared in that year’s All-Star game.
But the veteran goaltender has fallen on hard times recently. Injuries have hampered him in the last two years and Darcy Kuemper’s emergence dropped Backstrom to third on the depth chart.
He hasn’t played a single minute between the pipes in the NHL this season, CBS Sports notes that he will have a decent shot of getting some playing time with the Flames as Calgary lacks experience behind Jonas Hiller.
Minor leaguers swapped
The Wild also made a couple minor league swaps.
They got defenseman Conor Allen from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward Michael Keranen. The Wild also traded center Brett Sutter for right winger Scott Sabourin from the Los Angeles Kings.
