Article: Jesper Wallstedt Has Lept Out Of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

[Mikki Tuohy]

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[viper3119]

first!

[Citizen Strife]

No more excuses.  One of the best defensive-focused teams in the league, with two absolute wizards in Brodin and Spurgeon.  Add Ek and Foligno up front. Wallstedt shouldn't struggle nearly as much as last year.  If he does, Gus gets all the money he could ask for.

Edited Monday at 01:15 PM by Citizen Strife

[Up North Guy]

2 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

No more excuses.  One of the best defensive-focused teams in the league, with two absolute wizards in Brodin and Spurgeon.  Add Ek and Foligno up front. Wallstedt shouldn't struggle nearly as much as last year.  If he does, Gus gets all the money he could ask for.

Common sense still tells me that Wally will still have some rough periods. It is only natural. My biggest concern is how the coaching staff handles him. Will they play him enough to develop and be sharp? Will they over play him if Gus has a bad game or two? Will they yank him after every bad goal, which all goalies give up now and again? Will he be comfortable reporting injuries that could affect his game? Will he take the blame when the defense fails him? He is young and needs to be recognized for that. Last year shows us that bad communication from the team can have a serious impact on how he plays, like any young goalie.

[mnfaninnc]

I find this article with several factual misrepresentations. The Wall had 2 good A years before last season's debacle. And kudos to UNG for pointing that out. In year 2, his sv% was down from year 1, but if you looked at the more experienced McIntyre, he was light years ahead of him playing behind the same crappy defense that was more rookie A guys than E guys. 

This can be a decent battery of goalies if we can keep Goose for a reasonable price. And, this is not a contract year for The Wall, it is for Goose though. Perhaps I misread the last paragraph, but it seems to indicate The Wall is in a contract year, not Goose. 

I watched the 1st 2 periods of the debut in Dallas and it looked to me like The Wall was having a pretty good game. Everything caved in in the 3rd when a tired, injured, sick team took the ice. But there were a couple of things that he had to learn. 1 was be ready at all times, N players will challenge you by firing when least expected. He had that learning curve in the A too. 2 are N moves he has not seen before. As Pavelski was coming in on The Wall, he drifted towards the short side where you would expect the shot. Pavelski hit the long side with a perfect shot. A guys don't do that.

He rebounded with a couple of good starts against lottery teams later in the season. Will The Wall need to be protected? Yes, to start. He's got to get up to speed on velocity of shots, and moves he's never seen. He will learn. 

Mikki said that Goose's track record wasn't very good until coming to MN. Facts are that his track record showed an every other year type of production. This is why I keep bringing that up, we don't know if he's that type of goalie. He also played behind the Ottawa defense which seemed allergic to actually playing defense. He had problems backing into his net too deep which I believe has been corrected. And, while his stats showed inconsistent play, let's remind everyone that before heading to Ottawa, Guerin saw him as a draft pick. He was the top European goalie in his draft class as a 2nd round pick. 

The Wall has played up in every jr. league he's been in. At 22, I think he'll be decent, probably an above average backup goalie still learning the ropes. Will he be perfect? No. But let him start seeing N shots. This was the development disappointment for keeping Fleury around last season. He essentially missed a year of training. He's learned all he can learn from the A. Now it's time to reset and put a few more bricks in his Wall. 

One last thing. Mikki mentioned that his game is to locate the puck and anticipate where the play is going because he does not have the speed to move. That's a misnomer. The Wall is a very quiet goalie who does rely significantly on his reading and puck finding ability so he can play quiet, but he is very athletic when he needs to be, and can be quick. Don't sell him short on his glove or a quick pad kick out.

[1Brotherbill]

Wallstedt needs to play well when he gets his shot.  For the organization, the fans, and for Wallstedt he needs to play well as a backup and push Gus out of the net.  The reason is if he doesn't play well the Wild will be forced to extend Gus to some ridiculous contract that would financially hamper the team.  Of the top 10 highest paid goalies in the league only 2 have won Stanley Cups.  There is no need to spend 7 million plus on a goalie in this league. 

[Sam]

46 minutes ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Wallstedt needs to play well when he gets his shot.  For the organization, the fans, and for Wallstedt he needs to play well as a backup and push Gus out of the net.  The reason is if he doesn't play well the Wild will be forced to extend Gus to some ridiculous contract that would financially hamper the team.  Of the top 10 highest paid goalies in the league only 2 have won Stanley Cups.  There is no need to spend 7 million plus on a goalie in this league. 

Right on, brother.

[mnfaninnc]

13 hours ago, 1Brotherbill said:

Wallstedt needs to play well when he gets his shot.  For the organization, the fans, and for Wallstedt he needs to play well as a backup and push Gus out of the net.  The reason is if he doesn't play well the Wild will be forced to extend Gus to some ridiculous contract that would financially hamper the team.  Of the top 10 highest paid goalies in the league only 2 have won Stanley Cups.  There is no need to spend 7 million plus on a goalie in this league.

I read a national rumors site that was transcribing Russo and LaPanta. They are suggesting that $5.5-$6.5m is the going rate for a starting goaltender. Their thinking was that if you get ahead of it (I assume this is a contract extension) and you get a team friendly deal in this neighborhood, that could benefit the team. But, what then do you to with The Wall, they asked, if he plays well?

The Wall makes $2.2m for the next 2 seasons. He could easily be bridged after that, and if he stays the backup, he wouldn't be too expensive. The thing I think is best is if you resign Goose in the range above, maybe the lower part of that range and don't give him a designation. If The Wall gets to where I think he can get to, and be a premier #1 (top 8), then maybe you have to trade out Goose. However, the odds of The Wall becoming that in the next 3 seasons is low. 

I think both would make a very good battery to have and if you can get Goose under $6m (I've said $5m before, but I do believe there is some capflation I have not accounted for) I think you can run the 2 of them out there under $10m for a few years. 2 very solid 'tenders can be very good come playoff time. They would be fresh too. I would think a bridge for The Wall comes in somewhere around where Goose is now, maybe $4m with capflation. With a cap number at $113.5m for the team, I would think keeping the goaltending number under $10m would be a win, and that's how far down the road we're looking.

[TCMooch]

Before last season he was seen as any easy Starter #1 goalie in the league. Now he's being written off. I hope he's able to really bounce back and become that future #1 Goalie he was projected to be when drafted.