from Joe Smith of The Athletic,

Marc-Andre Fleury isn’t hiding the fact he’s scoreboard watching as the Wild fight their way back into playoff contention.

“I love hockey,” he said. “I watch who is doing what. It’s going to be a tight race until the end.”

And Fleury, 39, wants to remain in Minnesota to see it through.

With the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline less than two weeks away, Fleury could draw some interest from contenders looking for goaltending help. President and general manager Bill Guerin has said Fleury will “call the shots” on whether he wants to get dealt — a right the future Hall of Famer has earned. The three-time Cup champion has a full no-move clause. But with Minnesota having won seven of its past nine games and currently just two points out of the West’s second wild-card spot, Fleury indicated it’d be hard to envision finishing the season anywhere else.

“If we were last in the conference, maybe it’d be a little bit different,” Fleury told The Athletic on Saturday night. “But this is my team. We’ve been battling together, right? I take pride in winning with this team. I want us to make the playoffs. That’s my first priority. I think being in the hunt, it’s fun, it’s challenging. And I want to be here and see this team make the playoffs.”

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