Jump to content
Hockey Wilderness Zone Coverage Property

Article: Filip Gustavsson's Season Is Still On Track


Recommended Posts

The Wild will need both if they want any success.  The defense is both getting older AND getting younger at the same time (however that works). Some players have not been their usual selves, and Buium and Jiricek certainly have early defensive foibles because they try to lean offensively.

The Wild will not outscore their problems like that last couple years with Fiala.  Figure out defense fast, cause the goaltenders are on an island sometimes.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gus has seen the tougher matchups since March of 2023 when he had clearly surpassed Fleury as the Wild's top option.

In Gustavsson's "down season", his average competition was significantly better than Fleury's when comparing the offensive threat the opposition offered, and his save percentage was around .905 after the Wild jettisoned Calen Addison's incredibly weak defense for a functional defender.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Verified Member

It’s fun and interesting to discuss.  I get it.  But there’s way too small of a sample size here to even pretend like we can draw a conclusion.

Wallstadt has been good.  But, not that good.  He just shut out one of the worst NHL teams I’ve seen on a boatload of weak shots to bring his save % up to .909.  Which is still lower than Gus’ career save % (not just his good years, all of it).  Also, the group in front of the goalie didn’t do Gus any favors in a couple of games (or more).

Wallstadt has shown me he can be a really good goalie, at some point.  But, I haven’t seen anything yet that says he could have the same elite, top 5 Vezina contender upside that Gus has flashed in multiple NHL seasons now.  I need to see more than 1 really good game against the worst team in the NHL out of Wallstadt before I even consider a more even split.  If the same trend goes on for 2-3 more weeks, you start throwing him out there more.

A top priority has to be getting Gus going no matter how good Wallstadt is.  This team likely needs both to be good just to make the playoffs.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Wall has been the beneficiary of Daemon Hunt coming in and putting out the fire of the 3rd pairing. Everything seemed much more calm defensively the past 2 games and those were The Wall's. We cannot know the affect this will have on Guus, but, with tonight's game, we shall find out. 

I suspect Guus has a good game tonight, and I also suspect that Guus will get a few more games off to keep him fresh. No need to tire him out, but Hynes likes to run the same guy out all the time. I am not convinced that Hynes can handle this transition yet, I have soured on him immensely. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Beast said:

It’s fun and interesting to discuss.  I get it.  But there’s way too small of a sample size here to even pretend like we can draw a conclusion.

Wallstadt has been good.  But, not that good.  He just shut out one of the worst NHL teams I’ve seen on a boatload of weak shots to bring his save % up to .909.  Which is still lower than Gus’ career save % (not just his good years, all of it).  Also, the group in front of the goalie didn’t do Gus any favors in a couple of games (or more).

Wallstadt has shown me he can be a really good goalie, at some point.  But, I haven’t seen anything yet that says he could have the same elite, top 5 Vezina contender upside that Gus has flashed in multiple NHL seasons now.  I need to see more than 1 really good game against the worst team in the NHL out of Wallstadt before I even consider a more even split.  If the same trend goes on for 2-3 more weeks, you start throwing him out there more.

A top priority has to be getting Gus going no matter how good Wallstadt is.  This team likely needs both to be good just to make the playoffs.  

Wallstedt hasn't lost a game this year.  His wins and OTL's have come against some bad teams and good teams.  

Gus has lost seven games and those loses have come to some bad teams and some good teams.  

The past is the past.  Gus is having a poor start to the season.  Wallstedt has played better. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

During the sharks game last night on ESPN, Emily Kaplan mentioned that SillyG was active during the GM's meeting in Toronto discussing trades, and it was also brought up on the radio broadcast.  Nanne said something along the lines of 'everyone's looking for goalies, and the wild have two...we'll have to keep an eye on that'

I wonder what the market for Cal Petersen is, because if this team's got a shot, they're going to need a Gus/Wall tandem this season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, MrCheatachu said:

During the sharks game last night on ESPN, Emily Kaplan mentioned that SillyG was active during the GM's meeting in Toronto discussing trades, and it was also brought up on the radio broadcast.  Nanne said something along the lines of 'everyone's looking for goalies, and the wild have two...we'll have to keep an eye on that'

I wonder what the market for Cal Petersen is, because if this team's got a shot, they're going to need a Gus/Wall tandem this season.

It'll be interesting to see how Hlavaj does at the olympics for team Slovakia, last time he played pretty well, which would further corroborate the dumpster fire that is the Iowa Wild program.  Gus has NMC the following two seasons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, 0 Stanley Cups said:

It'll be interesting to see how Hlavaj does at the olympics for team Slovakia, last time he played pretty well, which would further corroborate the dumpster fire that is the Iowa Wild program.  Gus has NMC the following two seasons.

Yeah, it'll be interesting. 

I've wondered why the guy who performed well on the international stage, and put up similar numbers to Wall was never part of the conversation...then I watched him in preseason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...