The Minnesota Wild could be considering a shift in their crease.
After making the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2014-15 season, General Manager Bill Guerin is going to want to ensure he can elevate his team further beyond that threshold with the current core of players he has built. Among moves the Wild could make, Elliotte Friedman on the FAN Hockey Show said that he doesn’t think Minnesota is going to move off goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, and that Filip Gustavsson would be the netminder in consideration to trade. The discussion originated from an article in The Athletic, which reported that Minnesota had offered Wallstedt in a package deal for Blues center Robert Thomas at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline.
The discussion originated from an article in The Athletic, which reported that Minnesota had offered Wallstedt in a package deal for Blues center Robert Thomas at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline. Since opting to keep their 23-year old goaltender, Wallstedt split the workload down the stretch of the regular season, playing 10 games, as did Gustavsson. But Wallstedt earned his keep, tallying a .930 save percentage and a 1.98 goals against average to end the regular season. In the playoffs, Gustavsson saw one game to Wallstedt’s 10 in between the pipes, where the rookie goaltender averaged 29.9 saves throughout that stretch.
However, that workload didn’t come without reason. In Minnesota’s end-of-season press conference, it was announced that Gustavsson will undergo offseason hip surgery. Furthermore, the Wild are not sure if he’ll be able to play by the start of next season. This development brings complications to Minnesota and its approach to how it can progress in its offseason moves.
Gustavsson and Wallstedt took up only 6.2% of the Wild’s cap hit in 2025-26, but it won’t be that low for long. Amid Minnesota’s transition in net, having lost Marc-Andre Fleury to retirement, extended Gustavsson to a five-year, $34MM ($6.8MM) contract back on October 4th, 2025, which is set to kick in next year. Despite the decrease in workload due to his injury down the stretch, the 27-year-old Swede still went 28-15-6 through 50 games in 2025-26, posting a .904 save percentage and 2.69 goals against average. He started one playoff game, a 5-2 Game 2 loss to Colorado en route to Minnesota’s second-round exit.
Gustavsson’s extension carries a no-movement clause in the first two seasons of his deal, meaning Guerin would have to get him to waive that clause if a deal were to get done. However, based on comments made at the Wild’s presser, it doesn’t seem like they’re eager to move off either ‘No. 1 goalies,’ a combination that has been fruitful for them so far. Furthermore, the tandem has a good dynamic as natives of Sweden who both represented their country at the past Olympics in Milan.
However, despite the early commitment to having a solidified duo in net for the foreseeable future, Minnesota will have to decide if it is comfortable in keeping both netminders and risking the opportunity of trading for a big-name center pass them by if they decide to stand pat and wait for Gustavsson’s status post-surgery. Top-line centers don’t come across the market often, but management has recently demonstrated that they’re unfazed by making a move to acquire a star.
The Wild have a little over $13MM in cap space this summer, with the eight-year, $136MM ($17MM AAV) extension of Kirill Kaprizov beginning and the ability to extend another key piece in superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes. Some creativity will need to be employed as this contending window has elevated itself for the Wild in its quest for the State of Hockey’s first Stanley Cup.
Minnesota will need to make decisions on a hefty list of pending free agents, including unrestricted forwards Vladimir Tarasenko, Nick Foligno, Mats Zuccarello, Michael McCarron, Marcus Johansson, Robby Fabbri, and defensemen Zach Bogosian, as well as Jeff Petry. Add forward Bobby Brink, who they acquired at the deadline from Philadelphia, and defenseman Daemon Hunt as restricted free agents; that totals 10 skaters that will surely keep the front office pretty wild this summer.
It’s like starting a story with a main character, but in the middle of the story, you lose track of the main character and don’t hear from him until the end… What is the ending for Jesper?
If Filip Gustavsson becomes available, numerous teams are likely to express interest in acquiring him, though his services will come at a substantial cost. Among the potential suitors, Edmonton and Florida stand out as notable contenders.
For Edmonton, securing Gustavsson would likely require including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the trade, along with additional assets. Similarly, Florida would need to part with either Anton Lundell or Sam Bennett, along with other assets, to finalize a deal. These scenarios highlight just two of the teams that could be interested in Gustavsson’s talents.