Minnesota Wild Should Keep Both Gustavsson and Wallstedt

The Minnesota Wild are in an odd position heading into the offseason, with general manager (GM) Bill Guerin needing to address the center position desperately.

It was reported around the deadline (from ‘Wild trade tracker: After bottom-six overhaul — Foligno, Brink in, Hinostroza out — are they done?’ – The Athletic, 03/06/2026) that the Wild showed interest in New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck. The deal obviously didn’t get done, and that is because of the astronomical price the Rangers were and still are looking for if they move Trocheck.

Now, the Wild may circle back on Trocheck during the summer, but their assets are limited with just two picks in the first two rounds over the next three years. Guerin obviously used huge assets in the Quinn Hughes trade, so now he has to get creative.

Are the Goaltenders Real Assets?

One of the things that I think puts Guerin in a tough position is the value of his goaltenders on the trade market. Goaltending is arguably this team’s biggest strength with the young stud Jesper Wallstedt, as well as a very good established goaltender in Filip Gustavsson.

Now, before I really dive into this, Wallstedt is obviously extremely valuable, and Guerin has tried to use him in packages. According to Michael Russo (from ‘Wild GM Bill Guerin’s summer to-do list: Pursue No. 1 center, decide on UFAs, extend Quinn Hughes’ – The Athletic, May 15, 2026), the Wild tried to offer Wallstedt and Danila Yurov as part of a package for St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas at the trade deadline.

That package was obviously turned down, but the point is that Guerin wasn’t scared to make their 23-year-old goaltender available.

While Russo is a great source, I think the organization’s view on the goaltending situation may have changed (this is just my opinion, not a report). After a very up-and-down season for Gustavsson and with Wallstedt having a true breakout, I wonder if they’re more hesitant to move off of Wallstedt.

Where this gets tricky now is because of Gustavsson’s poor showing at the Olympics, down the stretch of the regular season, and in the one playoff game he appeared in. I wonder if his value took a hit. On top of all that, it was just reported that Gustavsson will have to undergo hip surgery.

My colleague Mariah Stark had a great write-up on what the injury could mean for Gustavsson, so if you’d like a deeper dive into that specifically, click on this hyperlink.

To me, the hip surgery is another huge hit to his value. Although 27 isn’t old, hip surgeries can be particularly challenging for goaltenders, as the hip is crucial to nearly all movements in a goaltender’s game. The more I think about what the Wild should do with their goaltenders, the more I believe that not doing anything with them this offseason makes the most sense.

Wallstedt Has Too Much Upside

Through the 35 games Wallstedt played in, he posted stellar statistics. He had a .916 save percentage (SV%), 18.93 goals saved above average (GSAA), and 18.01 goals saved above expected (GSAx). His GSAA ranked fifth in the league, and he did all of that at just 23 years old.

Finding true elite starters in this league is such a difficult task. In my opinion, the list of true elite starters is just five guys in the NHL: Connor Hellebuyck, Igor Shesterkin, Jeremy Swayman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Ilya Sorokin.

I truly believe that Wallstedt is one of the young goaltenders in this league who will jump into that tier along with Spencer Knight and Yaroslav Askarov.

The playoffs didn’t end great, but to be honest, the Wild did no favors in front of him against the Colorado Avalanche. He was a brick wall against the Dallas Stars, and nothing would make me want to move off of Wallstedt.

Why It Doesn’t Make Sense

Now, what makes this even more difficult is that Trocheck is instantly off the board if you’re using Gustavsson in a deal. The Rangers obviously don’t need another goaltender with Shesterkin locked up long-term, so I don’t see the Wild really being in a serious race for Trocheck unless the price comes down a little bit.

I can see them circling back on the Thomas situation, but again, I wouldn’t move Wallstedt, who was in the original package they turned down, and Gustavsson isn’t worth as much. I’d also assume that deal wouldn’t work unless Jordan Binnington is moved during the offseason as well.

Russo also brought up potentially trying to get Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators, if some of the speculation that he might be looking for a fresh start is to be believed. I don’t know if the Wild have the necessary package to make a deal like that happen, but that is something I’d be interested in.

Going back to the goaltending, I don’t think Gustavsson is really a fit in Ottawa. The Senators are already paying Linus Ullmark $8.25 million a year, so adding Gustavsson’s new deal, where he makes $6.8 million for the next five seasons, doesn’t quite make sense to me. Another point to consider is that Ullmark was fantastic down the stretch and stood on his head against the Carolina Hurricanes.

If I were running the Senators, I’d bank on Ullmark having a bounce-back season. You can’t do much more when he’s making so much money.

Although this article is not about trading either of the goaltenders, I don’t want to leave this article shutting down all ideas of different second-line center options.

What I would try to do if I were Guerin is call the Anaheim Ducks and see if they can work out a deal for Mason McTavish.

McTavish struggled this season, and things have been a little bit testy between him and the Ducks dating back to this past offseason. He held out before the regular season because of contract negotiations, and then agreed to a six-year deal with an average annual value (AAV) of $7 million.

If the Ducks are open to moving on to him, I feel as though you could get McTavish for a good price. At the end of the day, he’s younger than Wallstedt, and although he’s coming off a tough season, he didn’t have a full training camp, and that has a big impact on players’ seasons.

I hope Guerin would’ve already called Ducks GM Pat Verbeek on McTavish. He has the upside to be a second-line center for less of a price than the other options on the market.