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Wild hand Bryzgalov a training camp tryout

Ilya Bryzgalov

Minnesota Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov (30) reacts as he looks up at a score board after Chicago Blackhawks’ Brandon Saad (20) scored his goal during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series in Chicago, Sunday, May 4, 2014. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

AP

Shortly after word surfaced that Josh Harding will be out indefinitely, many believed that Darcy Kuemper might finally gain the leverage needed to strike a beneficial deal with the Minnesota Wild. That may still be the case, but Wild GM Chuck Fletcher played his remaining chess piece on Wednesday by handing Ilya Bryzgalov a professional tryout.

The team announced that the 34-year-old will be in camp with the team on Friday.

Naturally, the intrigue doesn’t stop here.

Will this pressure Kuemper to take a compromised deal? Could this mean that Bryzgalov might be more inclined to accept a two-way offer he wasn’t particularly interested in before?

It all makes for about as interesting as a training camp situation as one can ask for in the NHL, aside from maybe when a team hits a wall with a prized player and people start airing out dirty laundry.

Really, it’s surprising that Bryzgalov hasn’t found a friendlier offer in free agency, though. For all of his weird quotes and recent struggles, he’s an experienced goalie (457 regular season games with a solid .913 career save percentage) who isn’t that far removed from being a Vezina-caliber netminder with the Phoenix Coyotes. He’s “carried the mail” as a No. 1 before, which is something very few backups can say.

All of that aside, would it be worth it if the Wild saved money and went with Bryzgalov + Niklas Backstrom for at least the beginning of the season instead of spending a little more to see how promising Kuemper really is?

It’s a pretty fascinating situation, and as we know with “Breezy,” things tend to become more entertaining when he’s involved.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins