The offseason continues to tick away, but even quicker now that it’s the month of September. Training camps are closing in, and before we know it, the regular season will be upon us. While most of the focus this offseason has been on when Kirill Kaprizov will sign his new contract, there are some wondering what’s going to happen to the Minnesota Wild’s goaltending now that Marc-André Fleury is retired.
They have Filip Gustavsson and the up-and-coming Jesper Wallstedt, but some aren’t sure they’re the pair to get it done. Gustavsson has proven his worth, especially after last season, but some aren’t convinced, while Wallstedt hasn’t played enough for fans to have formed an opinion on his future, although some have. In this article, we’ll take a look at each goaltender and why the Wild are in good shape when it comes to their goaltending, starting with what Gustavsson has done so far.
Gustavsson Solid #1
The Wild were pretty spoiled the last few seasons, having Fleury as one of their goaltenders, and although he was in the final few years of his career, they still got one heck of a show. They were also fortunate because their eventual starting goaltender, Gustavsson, was able to learn from Fleury for the past few seasons. Now, Gustavsson is not Fleury, and it’s not fair to compare the two of them, but Gustavsson has really shown his personality and his style, especially this past season. Some of that is thanks to his goaltender partner, Fleury, but he found a way to come out of his shell and show the type of goaltender he is: entertaining and strong.
It’s really interesting to think about how goaltending tandems work, and while some thrive off competition, there is a healthy level of it and an unhealthy level where it can cause problems. The Wild were lucky enough to have a very healthy competition between the two, where they worked hard to bring the best out of each other. Gustavsson struggled in his second season, but this past season, he came back as an almost new goaltender, in shape both mentally and physically, and it paid off.
He played in 58 games, where he had 31 wins and 19 losses, plus six overtime losses, which earned him seventh place among all goaltenders in the league. He was a bit behind the goaltending leader, but so was everyone else in the league. Gustavsson established himself as a top goaltender and showed he is capable of making the big saves needed to win games and bounce back from struggles. He has a long career ahead of him, and hopefully, he can continue to improve his game for the better.
Wallstedt Needs Time
It’s time for Jesper Wallstedt to be in the spotlight since he will be Gustavsson’s full-time backup this season. It’s going to be a big adjustment as he’s only played a handful of NHL games up to this point, and they weren’t consecutive games, so he didn’t have a lot of time to fit into the lineup. Many have wondered if he’s a bust because he hasn’t made the lineup in a full-time role yet, but like stated in the season preview video regarding the Wild, why would they bring him up when they had Gustavsson and Fleury fulfilling those roles?
Again, he did get some playing time in during the preseason and then some during the regular season; just two games, and unfortunately, they were both tough losses. He wasn’t given a chance to redeem himself, as he didn’t see any more games the rest of the season and none in the postseason. It’s important to remember that he’s only a rookie and a young one at that, especially in the goaltender position. He has the skills to be a strong goaltender; he just needs time in the net and confidence in both himself and from the coaching staff.
He didn’t have the greatest stats last season in the American Hockey League for the Iowa Wild, but he also only played 27 games during the season. He had nine wins and 14 losses, which obviously are not great numbers, but he was dealing with injury issues and struggled to get back on track. Regardless, prior to these struggles, he showed some strong stats and had winning seasons; he knows how to win games. It’ll be interesting to see how he overcomes these past struggles and adjust to the NHL. Hopefully, things will go smoothly, and he can transition into a strong backup and potentially challenge for the starting spot.
Wild Have Strong Goaltending Future
Many may not believe it, but the Wild have a strong goaltending future in Gustavsson and Wallstedt. It may not happen this season, but once Wallstedt has a full season under his belt, he’ll catch on to how everything works and get comfortable in the big league. It’s entirely possible that Wallstedt won’t be the goaltender everyone expects, and he may never become that true number one, but he has too much talent for that to happen.
Every goaltender has an off-season, even Fleury, but especially when dealing with injuries. The biggest worry is if this becomes a recurrent issue, and that’s a whole other topic entirely, but he came back and was able to play. Gustavsson has already proven himself and shown he knows what it takes to become a top goaltender, and he appears to just get better with every game. He’ll still make mistakes like every goaltender does, but he’s a worthy number one.
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For now, Wild fans shouldn’t worry too much about the goaltending; however, the worry doesn’t ever go away entirely. Goaltending is such a difficult position that can control a game, and it’s hard to ever not worry about it, even when the goaltender is top of the league. However, the Wild deserve to have some faith in both goaltenders at least for the first half of the season to gauge how things go. If they can’t get a single win under Wallstedt, depending on how many games he gets to play, then it may be time to rethink, but he deserves time. Hopefully, they both can start on the right foot and help the Wild win games.
