Marc-Andre Fleury glad 'stressful' first free agency is over

Marc-Andre Fleury said it was stressful to face free-agency for the first time in his career but is happy to have agreed a two-year contract extension with the Minnesota Wild worth an average annual value of $3.5 million.

Video Transcript

- Just how excited are you to get this done and now you don't have to deal with more questions than conjecture the next week?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, it's really nice to get it done a little bit early. It is stressful. It was the first time in my career I was a free agent. And then we came to an agreement very quickly and got it done.

- Marc-Andre, it's Sarah. Why did you want to come back? I mean, what convinced you to stay with Minnesota and not test free agency?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: I like the team. I like the guys in the locker room, the coaches, the staff, the welcome I got, everything from the fans and around town too. And it's a good place to keep raising my family, my kids, and it checked a lot of boxes for me. It's a good team too, right? I think we still can win some games and that's very important to me. So I'm looking forward to that.

- Marc-Andre, just how much are you looking forward to having a full season with the team and not just dropping in late in the season, kind of starting there, building with them from the beginning?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, that'd be nice. It's good there for camp and start with everybody else. But it seems like the team hasn't changed too much. And also, it'll be good to know everybody instead of starting from scratch. I knew the guys already and it will be easier to get going and get started and looking forward to it.

- In your conversations with Billy, Marc-Andre, did they talk about role? I mean, do you expect it to be almost like after you were acquired where it'd be a 50/50 split or what was explained to you?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, I think both me and Campbell play.

- Did we lose you, Marc?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: No, I'm still there.

- Oh, there we are. Yeah, sorry. It froze.

- Yeah, it froze on us.

- There you are. Yep, there you are. Yep.

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: So that--

- Did you hear the question?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think it's, are they there or not?

- Yep, yep, we are.

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, all right. Sorry, I'm not too good with [INAUDIBLE]. Yeah, I think it will be a very similar to last season. Both of us will play and I think that's something that will make us good too, right? Because every night we'll have our first [INAUDIBLE] and a guy that can win games, and we'll help each, other push each other. And I think it'll be good for the team.

- Yeah. Does that work for you, Marc-Andre, at this, I don't know, not even just this stage of your career, but when you've been in those rhythms before, what are the advantages to that?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, it's good with me. I get along great with Cam. He's a great goalie, a great person and I think sometimes it's a little easier on the body too, getting a little bit older. So those rests during the season helps staying healthy and fresh when you're playing.

- Marc-Andre, Bill Guerin made himself clear. He expects to contend next season regardless of losing Kevin Fiala. What are your expectations just heading into next year as far as the wild being a contender?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: I feel like I go into every season looking to make the playoffs, obviously, and go from there. But it's a long way. It's a long way to get there. I think you have to go one game at a time.

I don't want to think too far ahead. Just try to win. Win one game, one win better, and keep moving on from there. But I don't think it's a good thing to look too far ahead, but definitely our goal is always to make it to the end.

- Are you looking forward to moving out of the hotel in Minnesota and into a house?

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY: Yeah, I think that'll be nice. Everybody was real nice to us. I know everybody's very welcoming and nice, but it would be nice to have the family the kids with me too. And just started looking at the houses now online to see what's out there. So yeah, looking forward to find something and get moving.