3ITB’s Top 33 Wild Players of All Time – #10

Kenney

10. Niklas Backstrom – G

9 Seasons,  409 Games,  194 W, 142 L, 2.48 GAA, .915 SV%

On June 1st, 2006 Niklas Backstrom signed a one year deal with the MN Wild at the spry age of 28. He came in as Manny Fernandez’s backup but quickly showed his talents as a number one goalie. October 7, 2006 was his first NHL game and first NHL win, 6 starts later, he recorded his first NHL shutout. In the middle of that same season, Fernandez suffered a knee injury which put Backstrom in the number one spot. He tied the MN Wild record, held by Dwayne Roloson, of 5 shutouts in just 36 starts and finished the season with best Goals Against Average and Save Percentage in the NHL.

Unfortunately, in his final NHL season, he was a healthy scratch with the Wild most of the season and eventually traded mid season to the Calgary Flames along with a 2016 draft pick for F David Jones. He had 4 starts with the Flames, two of them against the Wild, one at the X where he received lots of cheers from the fans and a standing ovation.

Backstrom currently holds MN Wild Team records with most wins (194), most wins in a season (37 in 2008-09) and most shutouts in a season (8 in 2008-09)

Previously on our list:

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