Article: Are Gus and Wallstedt the Wild's Best Goaltending Tandem Since 2003?

[Eric Forga]

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[Will D. Ness]

I think our Swede tending tandem is really well suited for a highly disciplined defense (and offense for that matter) that stays home and doesn't hand opportunity to the opposition on a silver platter 10 times a game.

Adding QH into the mix is going to change that.  It should be interesting to see how the team responds by opening up the game a bit and seeing if we can recover when things break.

Gus hasn't really shined too brightly when this is the case.  Wally is still a question mark but actually looked good in SO's so maybe?

Also, one of our best recovery defenseman is Spurge.  The guy is a master of disrupting odd man rushes and breaking up plays even when behind the play.

I wonder if we should pair Spurge with QH?

[bisopher]

Simple answer:  Yes.

Longer answer: I think Gus is playing at a level similar to either of the 2003 tandem, but the Wall is at a level above that (so far).

[Beast]

I’m reserving judgement until later in the season.  A couple of bad games from one or both of them and it changes the stats considerably.

They’ve both been good to date.  But, the rotation has each playing much less than other top goalies.  For example, Bobrovski, Wedgewood, Shesterkin, Vejmelka, Oettinger, Thompson, and Saros all have as many wins (or equal) the number of starts Wallstadt has made.  Gustavsson has 10 more starts, but is 15th overall in GAA and 12th in SV%.

Wallstadts numbers will come down to earth (more than they already have, he’s down to 4th in GAA after a commanding lead a few weeks ago).

I think it’s a good tandem.  But there’s definitely some recency bias.  Things could turn quickly.  I can’t say they’re the best since year X until the full picture is there.

Also, 22-23 season was pretty darn good here for goaltending.  Gus was near the top of the league and in Vezina discussions with awesome GAA and SV% (2.10 and .931 - better  than Wallstadts small sample this year) and Fluery had a 2.85 GAA and .908 SV% coming off a vezina the year before  (Gus has a .912 SV% this year).  Chances are they don’t surpass those counting stats this year.  I’d be hard pressed to say this tandem is better than that right now, let alone once the full sample is there with some likely regression.

[Imyourhuckleberry]

2 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

I wonder if we should pair Spurge with QH?

I don't think you want to choose that small pairing given that Brodin and Spurgeon have a past history of elite defense and can be the #1 PK unit.

Hughes and Faber have both shown the ability to play well with 25 minutes of ice time per game. I wouldn't break them up given that the chemistry building there could be essential for Hughes as he determines where he wants to play his next contract.

I also wouldn't wear out Spurgeon by trying to play him big minutes with Hughes, or disrupt what's been working well enough for the Wild to win at a top 2 pace since Halloween. Hopefully they can pass Dallas in the standings so the Wild can grab home ice for round 1.

[mnfaninnc]

42 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Hopefully they can pass Dallas in the standings so the Wild can grab home ice for round 1.

Home ice is severely overrated. Start on the road and split, finish the series in 6 is very nice.

[mnfaninnc]

Roloson and Fernandez were around before I had a chance to see hockey nationwide. My 1st year of getting NHL Center Ice was when Suter and Parise were signed. I'm not sure how long it had been going on before that, but I didn't have it, so, I didn't get to see this era. 

It does remind me a little of the Backstrom/Harding era the year before Harding's diagnosis. That looked like a promising duo! With Beckett and Kuemper coming up, it looked like we had the goalie slot solved. 

The thing I like about Guus and The Wall is they were both developed from the same area in Sweden, both stay quiet in net, and both are in at about $6m this year. That is tremendous cap value. This is also the year we need to have 2, since the schedule is so condensed. 

[Will D. Ness]

46 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I don't think you want to choose that small pairing given that Brodin and Spurgeon have a past history of elite defense and can be the #1 PK unit.

Hughes and Faber have both shown the ability to play well with 25 minutes of ice time per game. I wouldn't break them up given that the chemistry building there could be essential for Hughes as he determines where he wants to play his next contract.

I also wouldn't wear out Spurgeon by trying to play him big minutes with Hughes, or disrupt what's been working well enough for the Wild to win at a top 2 pace since Halloween. Hopefully they can pass Dallas in the standings so the Wild can grab home ice for round 1.

All good points.  I did see Spurg and Hughes play a shift together and it did look pretty tight.  It's intriguing but you are right I think.  

Also, Faber is still only 23.  It's not like he is a finished product.  He is going to get better.

[mnfaninnc]

17 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

Also, Faber is still only 23.  It's not like he is a finished product.  He is going to get better.

I see that extra gear in Faber since Hughes has come onto the team, and I really like unlocking that with him. He can keep up with Hughes and still get back defensively. Having those young legs churning 1/2 a game just helps the other older guys stay fresh. 

[mnfaninnc]

I really liked the Askarov/The Wall matchup last night. Both have some extra entertainment value and both are the 2 up and coming goaltenders in the league. I was a bit surprised at the shootout goals The Wall gave up. He was so good at stoning other really good shooters, but in this one he looked a little less confident in what was coming at him and what he was going to do. Askarov did not, and he had an answer for both Zuccy and Boldy who also didn't look confident. Was it the lefty goalie? I was surprised Boldy went 2nd, and, perhaps, that threw him off a bit?

[Imyourhuckleberry]

21 hours ago, Beast said:

Fluery had a 2.85 GAA and .908 SV% coming off a vezina the year before  (Gus has a .912 SV% this year).

You seem to be conflating a couple of different seasons. Fleury definitely did not win the Vezina the year before that(when he was with Chicago and Minnesota). He had won it the year prior to his move to Chicago though, at age 36, playing 36 of 56 games in a covid shortened season.

The year after Fleury had the .908 save percentage, he got absolutely shelled in his only playoff start and followed it up with an .895 the following year. Great career, but no question he had fallen off by the time he reached the Wild.

I would say this is the best Wild tandem since Fernandez and Roloson, which is good because it was the last time the Wild made it beyond round 2. I suspect Gus will have his save percentage increase slightly and Wallstedt will fall down, possibly below .920 by the end of the year, but if they combine for .915 or better, that could lead the league for team save percentage.

For team save percentage, Colorado currently leads the league at .919, but the Wild are 2nd at .913 and every other team is below .907! Islanders, Stars, and Kings are above a .905, but the other 27 teams are below a .903 team save percentage.

 

 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

6 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

For team save percentage, Colorado currently leads the league at .919, but the Wild are 2nd at .913 and every other team is below .907! Islanders, Stars, and Kings are above a .905, but the other 27 teams are below a .903 team save percentage.

Just realized that the team percentage includes empty net goals against, of which Colorado has very few. With goalies in net, the Avalanche have a .920 save percentage and the Wild have a .919, so it's very close.

Islanders goalie tandem is at .913 and Dallas at .911 save percentage.

[Pablo]

21 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I don't think you want to choose that small pairing given that Brodin and Spurgeon have a past history of elite defense and can be the #1 PK unit.

Hughes and Faber have both shown the ability to play well with 25 minutes of ice time per game. I wouldn't break them up given that the chemistry building there could be essential for Hughes as he determines where he wants to play his next contract.

I also wouldn't wear out Spurgeon by trying to play him big minutes with Hughes, or disrupt what's been working well enough for the Wild to win at a top 2 pace since Halloween. Hopefully they can pass Dallas in the standings so the Wild can grab home ice for round 1.

Passing the Stars for 2nd is a foregone conclusion. Their schedule is brutal the next two weeks and have lost 3 straight games as of last night. Something is not right in Dallas. Expect the Wild to roll thru January like they did in November!

[Imyourhuckleberry]

5 hours ago, Pablo said:

Passing the Stars for 2nd is a foregone conclusion. Their schedule is brutal the next two weeks and have lost 3 straight games as of last night. Something is not right in Dallas.

Possible, but the Wild have an equally challenging schedule for the 2nd half of the season overall. Both are middle of the league in remaining schedule difficulty, based purely upon currently winning percentages of the remaining teams.

Hope the Wild have a healthy and successful 2026.

Happy New Year!!!