Josh Harding re-signed with the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. The 28-year-old netminder's new contract is worth $5.7 million over the next three seasons. He gives the team some competition for Niklas Backstrom, who has had durability issues in the past few seasons.
Harding's contract also gives the Wild more time to develop younger prospects within the organization like Matt Hackett, Darcy Kuemper and Johan Gustafsson. His contract extends two years past the end of Backstrom's, who is 34 years old.
Harding started 30 games and appeared in 34 last season for the Wild. He went 13-12 with a 2.62 goals-against average and .917 save percentage coming off of reconstructive knee surgery. With Harding in the fold, Minnesota can turn their focus to improving an offense that ranked 30th in the league averaging just 2.0 goals per game.
For more on Harding and the Wild, head over to Hockey Wilderness and check out SB Nation Minnesota.