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As a trader, Bill Guerin is all about fair value. While other general managers might seek to fleece their brethren, Guerin believes conducting business that way is bad for a team in the long term. Back when he first got the gig, the Minnesota Wild GM said, "One of the great lessons I learned from [longtime GM] Jim [Rutherford] was... ‘Billy, never try to win a trade. Don’t try to screw the other guy over. Make a fair trade and you’ll get more deals done.’ That stuck with me." Now in 2025, the pressure is on for Guerin to fuel his team's rise to being a Cup contender. Most believe his primary asset is center Marco Rossi. Typically, Rossi would be an untouchable player -- a 23-year-old center coming off a 20-goal, 60-point season. Only 41 centers in the last 20 years have done that, and just three were traded before turning 24 after putting up those numbers: Columbus Blue Jackets malcontents Ryan Johansen and Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Dylan Cozens, who had struggled for two consecutive seasons. One wouldn't say any of those instances saw the team giving up the center "winning" the trade, but they got fair value. Johansen brought Columbus a top young defenseman in Seth Jones, a former fourth-overall pick. The Jackets also swapped Dubois for Patrik Laine, a No. 2 overall pick with a 40-goal season on his resume. The Buffalo Sabres probably got the worst deal for a young, productive center. Still, they got Josh Norris, who averages 31 goals per 82 games when healthy. So, what kind of goodies should the Wild expect for Rossi? Don't get your hopes up. The rumor machine has heated up, and it's believed the Wild are asking for what would look like a lowball offer, had it come the other way... and are still getting rejected. To recap Anthony SanFilippo's tweet: Guerin is asking for either winger Tyson Foerster or one (not both, one) of the Philadelphia Flyers' late first-round picks, situated at 22nd overall and somewhere between 29th and 32nd overall. Philadelphia is, for now at least, saying no. It's always tricky to deal with negotiations through the media, but let's take the report -- backed up by Daily Faceoff's Anthony Di Marco -- at face value. That's incredibly concerning. It not only shows that Guerin is willing to offload a young player at a valuable position for somewhere between 60 and 75 cents on the dollar (which would be bad enough!), but that teams don't feel they need to meet even these meager demands. And why would they? The Wild has spent over a year putting a FOR SALE sign on their player. The Flyers have reportedly known about their interest in offloading Rossi since the Cutter Gauthier trade. Guerin and John Hynes have only done more to show their lack of confidence in Rossi, reportedly lowballing him with a five-year, $25 million offer, and burying him on the fourth line in the playoffs. It also didn't help that the GM went on the radio before the playoffs and, by omission, implied his center had "soft skill." That has sent a clear signal to the rest of the league: We don't think we can win with this guy, and he's not a part of our core. Whether Minnesota is right or wrong with this assessment is beside the point. If the Wild are not valuing Rossi like a top asset, why on earth would anyone expect to pay for him as a top asset? There's a reason why the Flyers aren't parting with Foerster or a late-first-round pick, and it's not because they're more valuable than Rossi. Foerster's a solid winger, offering size, goal-scoring, and high-end defense. In Minnesota, he'd be this generation's Nino Niederreiter. Still, that can't compare to the value a No. 2 center like Rossi brings to the table. As for the 22nd pick in a "mid" draft class? Please. Philly would win a one-for-one swap by giving up any of those assets. No, the reason they're not taking those deals is because they don't have to. The Flyers can bet that the Wild burned their bridges with Rossi, and given that Rossi just spent the playoffs trapped on the fourth line, the center has no incentive to accept a bridge deal. A team like Philly has the option to either force Minnesota's hand with an offer sheet -- where they wouldn't surrender picks until 2026 -- or simply wait out Guerin and hope the price drops to, say, two second-rounders. Or, at any time, Philly could say, Sure, Rossi for 31st overall, here you go. If such a favorable price is in your back pocket on May 29, why make it now, when the draft isn't for another month? However, from a Wild perspective, if Guerin accepts this price, how can the team hope to come away with a "fair" trade for Rossi? If someone like Foerster -- a strong but unspectacular middle-six option -- is off the table in a Rossi trade, then any big swing for top-line winger JJ Peterka would seem impossible. From Buffalo's point of view, why give up a player you don't want to surrender for a player the Wild don't want to keep? Minnesota was always highly likely to lose a Rossi trade. Young, top-six centers are difficult to find, which the Wild should understand better than anyone. Those kinds of players are some of the most valuable assets in the game. As such, getting "fair value" back for one under any circumstances is challenging. But the Wild might have had a chance had they not made a series of blunders that failed to help them win in the playoffs. Because of that, they've severely driven down the value of what should have been their best trade chip. If these indications of Rossi's value prove close to true, the Wild aren't only going to fail to make a "fair" trade. They're about to give us a disasterclass in asset management.

After Filip Gustavsson’s stellar performance this season, the Minnesota Wild will enter next season with an entrenched starting goaltender, a luxury the team has not enjoyed since 2021-22. While that’s comforting for management and the coaching staff, there will be some reshuffling of the organizational depth this summer as Marc-Andre Fleury bids adieu to the NHL after a storied career. Who will take his place as Gustavsson’s backup next season? Is Jesper Wallstedt ready for the role? Will the Wild need to sign a veteran as insurance? Who will be the AHL and ECHL starters in net? The answers to these questions probably won’t crystallize until training camp next season. Still, the Wild have taken steps to address their organizational depth in net and currently seem well-positioned to populate each level with quality players. The Wild have five netminders signed to contracts at various levels of the organization for next season: Gustavsson, Wallstedt, Samuel Hlavaj, Riley Mercer, and William Rousseau. Chase Wutzke, a 2024 draft pick, will likely spend another year or two in the WHL. They also have several goaltenders currently coming off the books, and it is unclear if any of them will re-sign. How did the organization’s goaltending depth perform this year? What can fans expect for next season? Let’s dig into it below: Jesper Wallstedt 6-foot-3, 214 pounds Age: 22 Acquired: 1st round, 2021 2024-25 Stats: .879 SV%, 3.59 GAA in 27gp for Iowa Wild (AHL) Wallstedt’s struggles this season have been well-documented here and elsewhere. They have the Wild concerned enough about his readiness to step into an NHL backup role next season that it looks like they’ll sign a veteran netminder to be a reliable third-stringer. Wallstedt had a trying season mentally after the Wild initally tabbed him to spend most of the season in Minnesota. Although the organization told him to get an apartment here, they summarily sent him down to Iowa due to salary cap constraints, and he has said that he struggled with that disappointment. It clearly affected his play, and the Wild gave him several stretches of rest during the season to recalibrate. They called him up in December, and he played two games, both losses. He struggled against the Winnipeg Jets but rebounded with a solid performance against the Vegas Golden Knights before he was returned to Iowa. For a while in February, it seemed like Wallstedt had turned a corner when he produced a number of solid starts in January and February. However, he wasn’t able to maintain that level of play and ultimately lost the starting job to Hlavaj down the stretch. Despite his difficult season, many pundits still consider Wallstedt a high-level prospect, and the organization has stated that they expect him to begin next season as Filip Gustavsson’s backup in Minnesota. The Wild called him up again at the end of the season, and he was around the team during the stretch run and in the playoffs. Hopefully, some time spent learning from Fleury will pay dividends next season and beyond. Samuel Hlavaj 6-foot-4, 218 pounds Age: 24 Acquired: Free agent 2024-25 Stats: .904 SV%, 2.85 GAA in 36gp for Iowa Wild (AHL) Hlavaj emerged as a legitimate prospect this season after the Wild signed the undrafted free agent last spring. John Hynes had an early look at him when he led Slovakia to a victory over the United States in the 2024 World Championships with the Wild coach behind the bench. Hlavaj started the season in the ECHL, but he was called up to the Iowa Wild when Wallstedt went to the NHL for his brief stint. Once there, Hlavaj quickly supplanted Ferguson as the organization’s No. 4 goaltender and ended up starting most games the rest of the way. Iowa struggled this season. Despite that, Hlavaj managed to produce solid numbers, posting a .904 save percentage and providing stability in the crease for a team that desperately needed it. After the AHL season ended, he played in his third consecutive World Championships for Slovakia. He began as the backup netminder but finished the tournament as the starter. Hlavaj has good size and a solid track record, and he seems to read plays well. It will be interesting to see if Hlavaj can develop to a level where he can push Wallstedt and potentially secure an NHL job at some point. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him earn a call-up next season. Overall, Hlavaj’s emergence as a reliable professional netminder was a real bright spot for the Wild this season. Chase Wutzke 6-foot-2, 161 pounds Age: 18 Acquired: 5th round, 2024 2024-25 Stats: .895 SV%, 3.38 GAA in 50gp for Red Deer (WHL) Wutzke’s stats took a dip this year, but that can probably be chalked up to the fact that a 5th-round pick from 2024 was the starting goaltender for a weak Red Deer Rebels team that didn’t have many NHL prospects and ultimately missed the playoffs with a record of 26-34-6-2. Red Deer scored the second-fewest goals in the league, and only four goalies faced more shots than Wutzke. Still, starting 50 games and getting a lot of work is probably a good thing from a developmental standpoint. Historically, goalies on elite Canadian junior teams have their stats bolstered by their strong support, and NHL franchises tend to overvalue them despite their lack of development. On the other hand, Wutzke got a full year as a starter while playing a pro-style schedule, a season after taking the starting job from an older goaltender and getting valuable playoff experience as an under-ager. Ultimately, it looks like it was a solid year for Wutzke, and he’s tracking to be in professional hockey after juniors. Whether that happens in the 2026-27 season or the 2027-28 season remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get a handful of AHL games at the end of next season or the one after. The fact that the Iowa Wild signed him to an Amateur Tryout Agreement and had him travel and practice with the team for the end of the season bodes well for the organization’s faith in his future within the organization. Riley Mercer 6-foot-2, 203 pounds Age: 21 Acquired: Free Agent 2024-25 Stats: .925 SV%, 2.53 GAA in 46gp for Drummondville (QMJHL) Mercer will be a new name for a lot of Wild fans. The club signed him to his three-year, entry-level contract after the 21-year-old undrafted free agent finished his career with the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL. Mercer’s older brother, Dawson, is a forward for the New Jersey Devils. Riley Mercer capped off five strong seasons for the Voltiguers with his best season yet, leading the league with a .925 save percentage and five shutouts. Unfortunately, he was injured in the first game of the playoffs and his team was unable to advance without him in net, but that didn’t deter the Wild from taking a flyer on the 6-foot-2, 205-pound netminder. He was already on their radar after attending development camp last summer. The Wild reportedly offered him a professional contract but chose to return to Drummondville for another season. It seems like Mercer will have a legitimate chance to make the Iowa Wild out of camp next season. Still, if the Wild sign a veteran netminder, it’s more likely that he’d start the season for the Iowa Heartlanders in the ECHL, where he can play a lot of games. Either way, undrafted free agents are like lottery tickets. Mercer represents the potential for a significant payoff if he can translate his success in juniors to professional hockey. William Rousseau 6-foot-1, 187 pounds Age: 22 Acquired: Free Agent 2024-25 Stats: .911 SV%, 2.69 GAA in 29gp for Iowa Heartlanders (ECHL) Rousseau had a solid season in the ECHL after the Iowa Heartlanders signed him to a deal last summer after he completed a strong career in the QMJHL. He started the season as a backup to Kyle McClellan but ultimately supplanted him as the starter for the Heartlanders. Rousseau also played three games for the Iowa Wild. When Wallstedt was injured, Rousseau was inked to an AHL contract that runs through the 2025-26 season. That means he’ll have a real chance to serve as a backup in Des Moines next season and push Mercer for playing time, whether there or in the ECHL. At the very least, Mercer will be a part of the organization next year and has proven to be a reliable depth goaltender who can play a lot of games and be trusted with AHL starts. Dylan Ferguson 6-foot-2, 194 pounds Age: 26 Acquired: Free Agent 2024-25 Stats: .878 SV%, 3.81 GAA in 12gp for Iowa Wild (AHL) Iowa signed Ferguson during training camp after the Vancouver Canucks released him from his tryout. He deserves a lot of credit for being an organizational soldier last season, mostly serving as depth in Iowa to bolster the goaltending as insurance for the struggling Wallstedt after Hlavaj passed him on the depth chart. He was also an emergency call-up to Minnesota in January when Gustavsson was ill and Wallstedt was injured. However, he did not see any action, and they returned him to Iowa the next day. The Wild called him up again in February to serve as a practice goalie during the 4 Nations Face-Off break, but they returned him to Iowa again without playing any games. That’s pretty much been the story of Ferguson’s career. He’s a veteran professional netminder who has bounced around professional hockey without playing many games. However, he won a Kelly Cup in the ECHL in 2021. He spent last season in the KHL and is now an unrestricted free agent. While his track record suggests he is a capable netminder, the fact that the Wild signed Mercer and Rousseau probably means they probably won’t bring Ferguson back. Kyle McClellan 6-foot-1, 185 pounds Age: 26 Acquired: Free Agent 2024-25 Stats: .898 SV%, 2.62 GAA in 35gp for Iowa Heartlanders (ECHL) The Wild signed the undrafted former University of Wisconsin netminder to a one-year AHL contract last spring, but he ended up spending the entire season in the ECHL due to Hlavaj’s emergence. McClellan performed adequately, but given that Rousseau passed him and is without a contract for next season, it’s doubtful that he’ll be back in the fold next season. Troy Grosenick 6-foot-1, 181 pounds Age: 35 Acquired: Free Agent 2024-25 Stats: Did not play due to injury Unlike Ferguson, Grosenick has a long track record of AHL success, and the Wild actually signed him to be the starter in Iowa if Wallstedt had stuck in the NHL. Instead, he tore his ACL before training camp and didn’t play at all this season (Ferguson was actually his replacement). It’s hard not to wonder how his presence in Iowa could have helped Wallstedt this season. Assuming he fully recovers, the 35-year-old journeyman will almost certainly be offered an AHL deal somewhere, but it probably won’t be in Iowa. — Ultimately, aside from Wallstedt’s struggles, it was a year of positive developments in net for the Minnesota Wild. It appears the position is becoming one of strength that can further solidify the organization’s already strong prospect pool.

Liz Schepers scored the game-winning goal in 2024 to help Minnesota win the Walter Cup Championship. Rinse and repeat in 2025. Schepers, a Mound, Minn. native, scored the overtime, championship-clinching goal 12 minutes into overtime of Game 4 on Monday in front of 11,024 fans at Xcel Energy Center. The goal secured the fourth 2-1 overtime victory of the series against the Ottawa Charge. After linemates Klára Hymlárová and Katy Knoll brought the puck into Ottawa’s zone, Knoll fed Schepers for the goal. “Just tried to get lost and then made a great play to the front of the net, and I was able to get a couple whacks at it,” Schepers told reporters postgame. “Saw the puck go in, and then I was on my back. Yeah, the celebration was on.” Unlike last year, when the series went five games, Minnesota enjoyed winning the clinching game on its home ice in downtown St. Paul. The Frost players celebrated back-to-back championships in front of their family, friends, and fans. After dropping Game 1 in Ottawa, the Frost won three consecutive games to win the best-of-five series 3-1. Frost goaltender Maddie Rooney made 33 saves in the final game for her fifth postseason win in a row. At the other end, Ottawa rookie goaltender Gwyneth Philips was voted the Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP. She made 33 saves in Game 4 and led all goaltenders with a 1.23 goals-against average and .952 save percentage in eight playoff games. She did not lose a playoff game in regulation. Knoll was teammates with Philips at Northeastern University, and Knoll was happy and proud of her friend, who deserves all the accolades she received. “People shouldn’t even be surprised, but she continues to blow everyone’s expectations out of the water,” Knoll said. Though goaltending was a bright spot for both teams in the series, the depth on Minnesota’s roster predictably was a key factor in getting the victory. The Frost’s fourth line – or Blue Line, as they’re called – of Hymlárová, Schepers, and Knoll scored a combined 13 points in the Walter Cup Finals. That included the series-winning goal. “To have a coaching staff that has confidence in their fourth line,” Schepers said, “to play us in big moments in overtimes, it gives us a ton of confidence to go out there and to make plays and to contribute to this team.” Contribute they did. Knoll was the hero in Game 3, a contest that took three overtimes to decide a winner. Knoll, a rookie, scored her second goal of the playoffs at 109:57 to give Minnesota a commanding 2-1 series lead. Hymlárová, who scored a goal and four assists in the playoffs, assisted on both of their overtime winners. Knoll and Hymlárová each finished with five points in the postseason. “You look at our Blue Line and how many goals they scored these last few games,” said Minnesota coach Ken Klee. “It just shows, they don’t play the most minutes, but the minutes they do play are super important and super important for our group. “They play hard. They practice hard every day. They know, ‘Hey, we have a job to do just like everyone else. I’m so happy for them.” Schepers is back for her second year with Minnesota, centering two rookies in Hymlárová and Knoll on the right wing. Hymlárová, 26, played for St. Cloud State University and is from Czechia. The Frost drafted her in the third round last summer. She scored one goal and one assist in 29 regular-season games before her productive eight playoff games. Knoll, an Amherst, N.Y. native, was the team's seventh-round pick (39th overall) after a college career at Northeastern University. Like Hymlárová, Knoll scored a goal and an assist in the regular season. The trio came into the finals having scored 10 points in the semifinals against the Toronto Sceptres, which matched their combined regular-season offensive production. “My linemates were phenomenal all playoffs long,” Schepers said on May 28, during the Frost’s Walter Cup celebration. “You need that in the postseason. Every team is too good. Every top line is going to almost cancel out every other top line, and you need that depth to be successful and take on some of that production responsibility.” Schepers, 26, shouldered some of that responsibility last season when she scored the first goal in the team’s 3-0 Game 5 victory in Boston to clinch the championship. Just how clutch has she been? Schepers has five career PWHL goals, and three of them are in the playoffs. Two of those, of course, clinched the championships. Schepers tallied three assists in 19 regular-season games last year before adding a goal and four assists in 10 playoff games. She scored two goals and six points in the regular season this year in 27 games before her two goals and an assist in the postseason. Rooney noted how solid Schepers has been for Minnesota these two seasons. “For her to come up big in those moments… the game-winning goals, it just says so much about her,” Rooney said. “She’s just a big-moment, big-game player.” Before the PWHL, Schepers played with the Minnesota Whitecaps in the PHF, the women’s professional league before the PWHL. She scored 14 points with the Whitecaps in 2022-23 when the team lost the championship to Toronto. Schepers played college hockey for Ohio State, helping lead the program to its first national championship in 2022. In her five seasons with the Buckeyes, she graduated in the top-10 of all-time scorers in the program with 63 goals and 137 points. Schepers also scored six game-winning goals in 2019-20, good enough for the single-season record in that category. She’s at the top of the Buckeye list with 12 career postseason assists, 18 points, and 170 career games played. But her roots are in Minnesota, where she played high school hockey with Mound-Westonka. She made two trips to the Class 1A state tournament, scoring two goals and an assist in 2013 and four goals and two assists in a consolation semifinal loss in 2017. Her teams went 0-2 in state quarterfinal games at Xcel Energy Center. Even at the celebration, winning back-to-back championships as a professional hockey player hadn’t quite sunk in yet. She said some of her most memorable hockey from preps to college and WCHA tournaments were played in Minnesota, adding that she’s always had a lot of support from Minnesota and college teammates. “It’s been such a huge part of my career being from here,” Schepers said. “It’s a really full-circle moment coming back and being able to finish this thing on home ice.” Knoll also had a “full-circle” moment in a bit of a different way. She came off five seasons at Northeastern going into the PWHL Draft last June, held at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul. She said during the Cup celebration that draft night was “pretty stressful” since she was picked so late, in the seventh round. She attended the Draft in person, and nearly a year later, she was at the same location celebrating a championship as a pro hockey player. “I was sitting there thinking, ‘oh wow, who would’ve thought that however many months later that I’d be standing here a Walter Cup Champion?’” Knoll said. “So that was pretty cool.” Knoll, 24, scored 61 goals and 131 points in 177 games with Northeastern. The 177 games played ranked second all-time in school history. She said on Wednesday that it was an honor to be drafted by the league's reigning champion. “I think that also instilled a lot of belief in me,” Knoll said. “That they trusted me to come into this organization and fight for a place. I took that as a little bit of a challenge, and it ended up working out in the end.” Along with her linemate Hymlárová, the Frost’s rookie class included Britta Curl-Salemme, who scored the late tying goal and overtime winner in Game 2 of the Finals, defenders Claire Thompson and Mae Batherson, and forwards Brooke McQuigge and Dominique Petrie. Those players also celebrated their first PWHL title alongside plenty of experienced teammates who won the Cup with Minnesota a year ago. Knoll said the combination of young energy and experienced energy was “exactly what we needed. " “I think that was a lot of what contributed to that great depth that we showed,” Knoll said. “You look at my line in particular… Liz had a lot of that experience from last year, and she was able to help guide us. And I think Klara and I really brought that new, that excited fresh energy.” Schepers had energy, too, Knoll added. However, it was that leadership sense that helped stabilize the line and give them the confidence to work together as a cohesive line. Recently, someone asked Knoll to identify her “I made it moment” in the PWHL. She had two answers. The first was when she put on the Frost jersey and secured her spot in the league by playing in a game. Her other moment didn’t happen until Game 3 of the PWHL Finals, when she saw a bunch of signs made by fans with her name on them. “It just emphasized to me that every single person on this team, regardless of where you’re at in the lineup, everyone’s a role model for the young kids growing up looking to play hockey and to play professionally,” Knoll said. “That kind of resonated with me. It was a really cool moment.”