When it comes to goaltending the Minnesota Wild look like they have it covered. A youngster that broke out last season, a veteran that will end up in the Hall of Fame, and one of the best prospects in the entire world, but no one really talks about the depth past those three, and that is simply because there is no one. Filip Gustavsson, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Jesper Wallstedt are a fantastic trio of goalies to have on your roster, but as the newly crowned Vegas Golden Knights have shown, you still need depth past your stars, and the Wild have none.
Gustavsson Still Unsigned and Unproven
Gustavsson came to the Wild in a 1-for-1 trade with the Ottawa Senators. Considered a risky move at the time, the trade paid off in full as the 25-year-old blossomed with Fleury as a mentor, producing a massive .931 save percentage (SV%) and 2.10 goals-against average (GAA) in his 22 wins in the regular season, while also getting his first taste of the postseason where his play was solid, but not enough to get the team through to the second round.
With a single strong season behind him, the Wild are still deep in negotiations trying to re-sign the restricted free agent (RFA) and allow him to continue to grow into a true number one in the NHL. The problem is the Wild do not have any extra room under the salary cap, and despite a really strong season, Gustavsson still only has 60 career starts in the NHL. The Wild have grown to trust him in the net, but it is not that rare for a goalie to take a step back after such a huge leap forward. That risk is likely a sticking point in figuring out what his next contract looks like, and if it is even with the Wild.
Fleury is an Aging Superstar Wildcard
The Wild do have one NHL-caliber goalie locked in for next season, with Fleury on the last year of his contract worth $3.5 million. Fleury had an okay regular season campaign in 2022-23, producing 24 wins with a .908 SV% and a 2.85 GAA in 46 games played. The now-38-year-old began the season as the Wild’s starting netminder but eventually ended up in a 1A/1B situation as Gustavsson gained more and more starts.
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Assuming they are able to sign Gustavsson, Fleury will likely begin next season as the definitive backup, perhaps marking the final season for the aging star. While his play has not dropped off completely, it is definitely on a decline. His performance in the playoffs just was not the stuff of legends, and the potential for a serious injury climbs relative to his workload. As hard as it is to move on from a legend, there is a very strong chance this is Fleury’s last season in the NHL.
Wallstedt Alone in AHL
Obviously, when anyone talks about the Wild’s goaltending situation, Jesper Wallstedt is in the conversation. The 20-year-old was a first-round choice in 2021 and has been phenomenal in just about every way, whether it’s on the world stage or in the American Hockey League (AHL) where he was recently named to the 2022-23 Top Prospects Team. He will no doubt be the starter for the Iowa Wild in 2023-34, but as of right now, they don’t have anyone in line behind him.
Despite having such strong top-three goalies, the Wild have nobody in their organizational depth past them. They could look at bringing back Zane MacIntyre, the 30-year-old AHL veteran that played with Iowa this season, but he is an unrestricted free agent (UFA) that only produced a .899 SV% and a 2.87 GAA in his 34 games. Another option exists in Hunter Jones, a 2019 second-rounder currently sitting as an RFA, but he spent most of this season struggling with the Iowa Heartlanders in the ECHL.
Options Available at Draft
While traditional wisdom would dictate the Wild should look for a veteran guy to back-up Wallstedt in the AHL, providing some knowledge and guidance for the youngster, I think a more interesting option is to pick up one of the many solid options that are likely to be around in the second round of this year’s draft.
The Wild have an extremely deep prospect pool in every position but goaltending, and this year there is a solid group of highly rated, younger, and larger goalies that would absolutely be worth taking with one of their two second-round picks. Michael Hrabal and Adam Gajan have some serious potential to make it as NHL regulars, while other guys like Trey Augustine, Scott Ratzlaff, Jacob Fowler, and Thomas Suchanek could surprise a lot of people.
Someone likely to be available for the Wild in the fifth or sixth round is a goalie that has already been on a professional try-out (PTO) with the Wild, Thomas Milic. He has gone undrafted twice and spent a solid amount of time with the Wild on his PTO before being released back to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL).
Since being dumped by the Wild, he has had an extremely impressive year with a gold medal at the World Junior Championship, a WHL title with MVP honors and even took home the trophy for the WHL’s top goaltender. If nothing else, he has shown he has the heart and desire required to push himself to that next level when needed.
Something’s Gotta Give
No matter if they decide to re-sign MacIntyre and Jones, bring in some new talent at the draft, or even both, the reality is that the Wild will have to sign at least a couple of goaltenders. If everything goes according to plan and they end up improving upon the current trio of Gustavsson, Fleury, and Wallstedt, they could end up with some of the best goaltending depth in the entire NHL.
* Statistics collected from Natural Stat Trick
