Report: Wild inks José Theodore to one-year pact

by Jess Myers
ESPN.com
 
Original article
 
Upon returning from Europe in 10 days or so, the Minnesota Wild will have a much bigger name on the bench, or possibly in the crease. Late Friday night, a Montreal radio station CKAC first reported that free agent goaltender Jose Theodore has signed a one-year $1.1 million contract with the Wild.

He will reportedly join the Wild minor league affiliate in Houston now and meet the NHL club in Minnesota when they return from Finland.

Theodore, 34, spent last season with the Washington Capitals, going 30-7-7 in the regular season. He finished the regular season on a 20-0-4 streak, as the team captured the Presidents Trophy with the NHL's best regular season record. Theodore was the starter for the Caps' first two playoff games, a series in which they were eventually upset by the eighth-seeded Montreal Candiens in seven games.

Theodore began his career with the Canadiens and played parts of nine seasons there before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche in 2006. He was an NHL All-Star in 2004 when the mid-winter showcase was played at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Wild was in the market for a goaltender after backup Josh Harding suffered a serious knee injury in the team's second preseason game last month. With Harding expected out for the season, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher publicly stating that they were set, for now, with the tandem of Niklas Backstrom and Anton Khudobin between the pipes. But plans for getting Khudobin significant time in goal in the preseason kept getting delayed, prompting speculation that Fletcher was shopping for another option.

Theodore's best season as a professional came in 2001-02 when he won the NHL's awards for top goaltender and most valuable player. He was awarded the NHL's Bill Masterton Trophy in 2010. The award, named for the former Minnesota North Star who died as a result of injures suffered in a game in 1968, is given for "perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication."