The Minnesota Wild are likely heading into the 2024-25 season carrying a bit of an odd roster. According to Michael Russo of the Athletic, the Wild will carry three goalies for a lot of the year; Filip Gustavsson, Marc-Andre Fleury, and rookie Jesper Wallstedt.
Russo notes that the surprise comes from Wallstedt who has impressed the Wild between his brief NHL stint last season and this preseason run.
“The Wild are determined to get him more NHL action,” Russo writes. “So they plan to carry three goalies for a lot of the season.”
The expectation is that Wallstedt lives in Minnesota around the NHL team this season and gets his cuts at practice and in a few games. On occasion he might be sent to the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League for some extra ice time or if they need the salary cap space to make a move.
Wallstedt went 1-1 in the preseason with a .926 save percentage and is looking to build off of his three NHL games played in 2023-24. He went 2-1 with a shutout and holds a career .897 save percentage.
His save percentage doesn’t look outstanding because he allowed seven goal to the Dallas Stars in his NHL debut and hasn’t had much chance to improve the numbers.
Wallstedt will likely get that chance in 2024-25 though. The Wild will carry three goalies, all of whom they hope can work together for a successful season.
It’s not clear how they will divvy up the starting rotation, but Gustavsson will likely carry most of the load as the starter, Fleury will fill in as backup for his final NHL season, and Wallstedt will see starts on occasion.
Wallstedt played 45 games in the AHL last year and picked up a 22-19-4 record with a .910 save percentage.
The Wild selected Wallstedt in the first round (20th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft.
This is a huge opportunity for Wallstedt to impress the Wild organization and an audition to become a full-time NHLer next season. Fleury won’t be back in 2025-26, leaving the door open for Wallstedt to take over.
