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Article: Can the Wild Balance Current and Future Needs With Their Goalie Trio?


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This is a make or break half season for Gus.  He has to even out to a more respectable level if he wants to be taken as a #1 guy.  Even if Wallstedt is the heir apparent, there's no guarantee he's the guy.  It would be nice if Gus figures out his shit.

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3 hours ago, viper3119 said:

Marc-Andre Fleury will enter his age-40 season, and Gustavsson will be coming off a down year. Both are in the last year of their contracts.

Gus still has 2 more years 🙄

With Capfriendly gone, I think I'd check Puckpedia before attempting to talk about contracts. We all make mistakes, but that was a pretty big one.

https://puckpedia.com/team/minnesota-wild

Quote

Gustavsson’s future is uncertain, and he must earn a contract extension to stay in Minnesota. There’s a reality where neither Fleury nor Gustavsson is on the roster at the start of the 2025-26 season. 

While it possible that Gustavsson may not be on the roster after this year, he could just play under his current contract in Minnesota for 25-26.

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Wallstedt better get used to the cornfields off of I-94.

The writer loses a lot of credibility when they don't know Gus has another year on his contract, or which road comes out of Iowa...yikes.

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A really good goalie tandem can steal wins for a team. This is why I suggested going after Askarov. I'm not sure what this season has in store for the Wild, but I could definitely see obtaining Askarov and playing both he and The Wall in St. Paul for '25. These are the 2 best goalie prospects in the world. Nashville's looking for prospect skaters/picks. 

So, my plan would be to obtain Askarov. It would take someone not named Yurov, Buium, or The Wall. I could see someone like Heidt and/or Lambos and maybe picks attached to one of them. 

For me, going into the season with 2 stud goalies, a lefty and righty, would be fantastic. Would there be a learning curve? Possibly, but goalies are weird and both could come out and play the Stonewall Jackson role. They'd both be young enough to not even know what they should fear. Should they grab Askarov, then the clock starts ticking on Goose. 

I'd be recouping something from a Goose trade since he's signed for a decent price and is still young. Then, you go with the 3 headed goalie monster in St. Paul, and let Fleury become the Goaltender Whisperer. Vaj and McClellan take over in Iowa. Both Askarov and The Wall would be signed to low deals since they have no N track record and are not arbitration eligible. You could have 3-5 years of an excellent tandem before you have to choose one and let the other go. 

For some reason, I believe Trotz and Guerin could be trade partners. It would be interesting to hear them go back and forth, but I think their negotiating styles would mesh. 

Anyhow, if I were GM, this is the direction I would go. Of course, if I were GM, Laine would be on our team already! You guys might like me as GM, but some would absolutely hate me. I would be insisting on bulking up, and players finishing checks on the NHL level. But, it would be entertaining and we'd be playing in both reverse retro versions (though I may opt for the '80s). 

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So we gotta sit through another year of these two? I was all aboard the Gus bus when he was playing well, hopefully he has a bounce back year and MAF plays more like a HOF’er.

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I like Vaj. Doesn't get enough attention. 

Vaj had the exhibitionist demeanor and attitude with a nice win against USA at Worlds. 

Nobody likes when Vaj shuts ya down but it happens when you set the bar high. It was a nice signing by Guerin. I expect the AHL team to do well with their 1A-1B tandem in net. 

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