4:30 pm: The Wild have recalled McIntyre, while moving Fleury to injured reserve. Hunter Jones has been recalled to the AHL’s Iowa Wild in a corresponding move.
12:10 pm: The Minnesota Wild will be recalling a goaltender from the minor leagues, as Marc-Andre Fleury has sustained an upper-body injury. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that the veteran netminder is undergoing an evaluation today and the team does not yet have a timeline for his return.
Fleury, who will turn 38 in less than two weeks, has started 12 of Minnesota’s 16 games this season and has a .906 save percentage. Filip Gustavsson, the team’s backup, actually has some better numbers but has lost four of the five games he has appeared in.
The likely candidate to take over the starting role is Gustavsson, but there is at least some intrigue over who will come up to join him. The team has Zane McIntyre as a veteran minor league option, but he hasn’t appeared in the NHL since the 2016-17 season.
There is also Jesper Wallstedt, the 20th overall pick in 2021 and a top goaltending prospect. Wallstedt only turned 20 years old a few days ago and has four games of experience in North America, but did start on a regular basis in the SHL the last two seasons. In 22 appearances for Lulea HF last year, he posted a .917 save percentage with a goals-against average of just 1.98. The young netminder also won Best Goaltender at the World Juniors, and took Lulea to the SHL Finals.
While it may not be his time yet, Wallstedt is the team’s future in net and there will be cries for his recall if the team loses Fleury for a substantial amount of time, or Gustavsson struggles in his place.
What happened to Hunter Jones, where did he go?
Only goalie that should be recalled is Zane. Recall Zane and let Wallstadt Start in Iowa.
Fleury was brutal the first two games of the season. After that, he’s been playing pretty well. Take those two games out, and he’s got a .928 save percentage.
Hunter Jones is in the ECHL right now. They’re doing goaltending by committee there, it seems — the Heartlanders have played only nine games, won only one, and have used FIVE goalies already — and with a .893 SV in the E, he’s not precisely burning up the circuit.
McIntyre isn’t threatening to be the second coming of Ken Dryden, but he’s not stinking up the joint in Des Moines, anyway.