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


    Image courtesy of Matt Marton-Imagn Images
    Mikki Tuohy

    Hockey Wilderness is counting down the Minnesota Wild’s Top-11 Prospects, as voted by our staff. Today, we give you everything you need to know about our No. 3 prospect, Jesper Wallstedt.

    The future of Minnesota Wild goaltending has experienced a few rough years of North American hockey under his belt now. The Wild selected Jesper Wallstedt 20th overall in the 2021 draft, and he has been touted as a future face of the team -- a goaltender who can lead the team to the Stanley Cup. Still, despite three seasons in the Midwest that may not have lived up to fans' lofty expectations, Wallstedt is still capable of being a legitimate NHL-caliber goalie.

    Minnesota's goaltending situation for the Wild has been an interesting study for the past few seasons. After picking up Marc-Andre Fleury in a surprise trade deadline move, the Wild ended up moving Cam Talbot, who was understandably annoyed by the lack of ice time during the playoffs that year.

    Trading Talbot to the Ottawa Senators in a one-for-one trade for Filip Gustavsson appeared risky at the time. Gustavsson was mostly unproven, but was assumed to be a placeholder until Wallstedt was ready to enter the NHL. Instead, he found a home in Minnesota and rocketed into one of the best goalies in the league. Suddenly, Wallstedt had competition in net.

    Wallstedt played 38 games during his first year with the Iowa Wild, ending the season with a 2.68 GAA and .908 save percentage. Considering the change from an Olympic-sized rink to an NHL-standard rink, his stats indicated that he could adjust his game as necessary. Wallstedt relies on his ability to read the game and set up properly because he doesn’t have the speed needed to tweak on the fly. He was an AHL All-Star and was named Goaltender of the Month in January 2023. He seemed to be adjusting to the North American game.

    There were high hopes for the 2023-24 season, and it looked like Wallstedt would finally make his NHL debut. But any sort of Wild fan, Iowa or Minnesota, knows the dark stain that this season left behind. Minnesota spent most of the season with one or two top players, a handful of fourth-line guys, and three-quarters of the AHL team battling it out every night. That led to Iowa’s lineup being filled in with newly signed midseason and ECHL players, who were desperately plugged into the holes left behind. Wallstedt’s stats weren’t terrible, but they weren’t great either.

    The worst part was that Wallstedt was given his long-awaited NHL debut, but it was not only against a great team, but that team happened to be the Dallas Stars. And they were playing in Texas. It was a recipe for disaster from the start. That season, Wallstedt played 3 games with a GAA of 3.01 and a .897 save percentage. 

    Last season was also a bit of a letdown, marked by an off year with a struggling AHL team, poor statistics in his two NHL games, and lingering injury issues that were evident even when he was back in the net.

    Looking at all of this, it’s easy to throw in the towel and decide that the Wild were wrong about Wallstedt and to cut their losses. But there’s more here than meets the eye.

    For one thing, Wallstedt is only 22 years old and will soon turn 23. In terms of goalie development, he is essentially an infant. The Wild’s other beloved Swedish goalie, Gustavsson, didn’t get his breakout year until he was 24, and his stats were also mostly subpar up until that point. It is well-known that developing an NHL goalie takes time and patience. No longer can an 18-year-old show up in the league and play for 20+ seasons like Fleury did.

    Speaking of Fleury, having him around is a godsend. Gustavsson has spoken about looking up to Fleury and his childlike love of the game as a grounding inspiration during tough times in the season. Having a future HOF goalie around, especially one who played as long as he did because he continued to have fun going to the rink every day, is something most teams would kill for. Being able to shadow him on game days last season and having him as an off-ice presence could prove to be the defining factor in Wallstedt’s future success. 

    But the biggest issue facing any hockey goalie is the mental aspect of the game. Gustavsson has discussed it after his disastrous sophomore season with Minnesota, and Wallstedt admitted that was his issue at the beginning of his AHL season last year. It didn’t help that every time he started to get into the old groove, another injury would hit him. 

    This year, Wallstedt came back to Minnesota in early August. It’s no secret that this year is his defining hockey moment. While Gustavsson will continue to handle most of the starts just like he did last year, they will hand the other chunk of games to Wallstedt. Last year, there was the possibility of a three-goalie rotation for at least part of the season. That doesn’t exist this year. The Wild currently does not have another immediately viable NHL goalie in its farm system. 

    Many hockey players play amazingly when they’re in a contract year because they’re essentially playing for their lives. Wallstedt is doing the same thing this season, and that could prove to be the element that will push him over the top to become the goalie that we all think he can be. What he needs from fans is a little bit of grace and a whole lot of encouragement as he finds his footing in the NHL.

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    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 by Citizen Strife
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    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.

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    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.

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    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. 

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    Didn't it take Gus a handful of years to get good enough and be consistent enough to become an NHL starter? With rough patches too after being a top goaltending prospect out of Sweden? Taken in 2016 as the top Swedish goaltender in the draft, Gus spent at least 2-3 years in the minors and ended up in Minnesota on somewhat of a fluke deal tied to GMBG's opportunistic trade.

    Wallstedt needs to keep working hard and getting better. Unless you're MAF who had the ability to recover from his mistakes mentally and continue to be very good from the moment he was drafted, it's gonna take time. Wally was a great prospect but Brackett loves his Euros and taking a goalie first round sets up an expectation. MN missed some good ones in that draft. I hope Wallstedt, Lambos, Peart, Bankier, and Masters all work out for the Wild cause otherwise it's just piling up even more evidence Brackett is NOT a guru. Rather is was media BS all along as we suspected. 2020 & 2021 are examples we can look at to criticize the strategy. Until proven wrong, these are some totally relevant questions. Watching players like Lundell, Johnston, Knies, Blake, from 2021 and others the Wild could have easily picked in 2020 it really makes ya wonder... 

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    39 minutes ago, NoJoSux said:

    I hope Wallstedt, Lambos, Peart, Bankier, and Masters all work out for the Wild cause otherwise it's just piling up even more evidence Brackett is NOT a guru. Rather is was media BS all along as we suspected.

    TRUTH BOMB

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    2 hours ago, NoJoSux said:

    Rather is was media BS all along as we suspected.

    What isn't media BS?  The guy's strategy was BPA which usually meant passed over skill due to lack of size.  It's not a bad strategy but to call him a "guru" is just clickbait.

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    3 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

    TRUTH BOMB

    You want a truth bomb? 

    0 teams in the league have a 100% success rate on picks.

    Anyone who lists a bunch of draft picks and says that they ALL have to work out is not living is reality, and piling on in that assertion is even worse.

    Saying that 3rd and 4th round players have to work out when few of those players ever become anything more than career AHLers is even more stupid than labeling Brackett as some kind of guru.

     

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    34 minutes ago, raithis said:

    0 teams in the league have a 100% success rate on picks.

    Agree.  And I didn't say the bar was 100% success.  I realize that the draft is nearly a crap shoot.  There's science to the art (see: Dallas who consistently finds winners), but there's alot of art too.

     

    37 minutes ago, raithis said:

    Saying that 3rd and 4th round players have to work out when few of those players ever become anything more than career AHLers is even more stupid than labeling Brackett as some kind of guru.

    I realize the odds of 3rd and 4th rounders making the NHL are very low (<10%?).  My intent is to counter the click baiters and fan's who repeat the "top draft class" rabble.  The fanbase is beginning to catch on as more of Brackett's picks are traded away or not re-signed, so reality is beginning to over-take the mirage.  

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    22 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

    Agree.  And I didn't say the bar was 100% success.  I realize that the draft is nearly a crap shoot.  There's science to the art (see: Dallas who consistently finds winners), but there's alot of art too.

     

    I realize the odds of 3rd and 4th rounders making the NHL are very low (<10%?).  My intent is to counter the click baiters and fan's who repeat the "top draft class" rabble.  The fanbase is beginning to catch on as more of Brackett's picks are traded away or not re-signed, so reality is beginning to over-take the mirage.  

    Then why not say any of that? 

    Simply responding "Truth Bomb" to a post that did say that "all" the prospects listed must work out implies you are in agreeing with that statement completely.  There was no selective quoting, so how am I or anyone else to understand your intent as other than full agreement with what was quoted?  You may have meant more, but by throwing out a "click-bait" type of reply, your reply was just more rabble.

    The follow-up comment mentioned a lot of whiffs, but that just made it seem like you also thought everyone listed had to work out.  EVERY team has a lot of drafted players that never go anywhere, so I don't really see the issue if some are traded or not re-signed.

    My main issue with Brackett is that he seems to have a bit of tunnel vision regarding the types of players he's looking for, and so he sometimes takes a player who is more of a project that another because they fit his ideal better.  It doesn't mean those players won't work out, but it does mean that some of them may take longer to develop and may not help us have a diverse enough skill set on the team to match up as well with a lot of teams in the long run.  It also means that we are more likely to trade out a few of those players because we don't need so many of the same type of player.

    A lot of his picks are still getting to the league, so it's not clear that many of them are whiffs.  And while there are a few I would have rather seen go differently, I don't know whether the player the Wild picked won't end up being better.  I suspect the rate will end up being about average with the league once more time has passed. 

    I wouldn't call Brackett a guru.  He's done nothing to show he's one of the best in the league.  Having a top-rated prospect pool doesn't mean you can make a good team with the players you've picked.  That said, I don't think he's one of the worst either.  Maybe slightly above average.  He'd definitely get more points from me if he wasn't so prone to picking a particular type of player with similar play styles.

    I think mnfaninnc is right that Stramel was Guerin interjecting his wants into the equation.  It would not shock me in the least if the times that Brackett has seemed to deviate from his type of players were mostly because Guerin liked a player or liked what another member of the draft team was proposing.

     

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    7 hours ago, raithis said:

    Then why not say any of that? 

    Simply responding "Truth Bomb" to a post that did say that "all" the prospects listed must work out implies you are in agreeing with that statement completely.  There was no selective quoting, so how am I or anyone else to understand your intent as other than full agreement with what was quoted?  You may have meant more, but by throwing out a "click-bait" type of reply, your reply was just more rabble.

    The follow-up comment mentioned a lot of whiffs, but that just made it seem like you also thought everyone listed had to work out.  EVERY team has a lot of drafted players that never go anywhere, so I don't really see the issue if some are traded or not re-signed.

    My main issue with Brackett is that he seems to have a bit of tunnel vision regarding the types of players he's looking for, and so he sometimes takes a player who is more of a project that another because they fit his ideal better.  It doesn't mean those players won't work out, but it does mean that some of them may take longer to develop and may not help us have a diverse enough skill set on the team to match up as well with a lot of teams in the long run.  It also means that we are more likely to trade out a few of those players because we don't need so many of the same type of player.

    A lot of his picks are still getting to the league, so it's not clear that many of them are whiffs.  And while there are a few I would have rather seen go differently, I don't know whether the player the Wild picked won't end up being better.  I suspect the rate will end up being about average with the league once more time has passed. 

    I wouldn't call Brackett a guru.  He's done nothing to show he's one of the best in the league.  Having a top-rated prospect pool doesn't mean you can make a good team with the players you've picked.  That said, I don't think he's one of the worst either.  Maybe slightly above average.  He'd definitely get more points from me if he wasn't so prone to picking a particular type of player with similar play styles.

    I think mnfaninnc is right that Stramel was Guerin interjecting his wants into the equation.  It would not shock me in the least if the times that Brackett has seemed to deviate from his type of players were mostly because Guerin liked a player or liked what another member of the draft team was proposing.

     

    We can only speculate about what Brackett or Guerin are thinking, BUT...

    Brackett has a clear record of selecting guys while others who were available and not unknowns go on to establish themselves as high quality NHLers faster and better than his selections. Justify, rationalize, whatever, I'm just saying what are we supposed to think???

    Knudi's selection in the 2nd round could have been used on another player, especially considering we didn't keep him or get a big return. Makes ya wonder.

     

     

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    15 hours ago, NoJoSux said:

    We can only speculate about what Brackett or Guerin are thinking, BUT...

    Brackett has a clear record of selecting guys while others who were available and not unknowns go on to establish themselves as high quality NHLers faster and better than his selections. Justify, rationalize, whatever, I'm just saying what are we supposed to think???

    Knudi's selection in the 2nd round could have been used on another player, especially considering we didn't keep him or get a big return. Makes ya wonder.

     

     

    Agree.  That's why I don't much care for Brackett seeming to mostly have his eyes on a specific type of player.  I think you take the player you need because you may not get adequate trade value if they aren't what you really want.  I also think you make sure you aren't taking too many of the same type of player or you run into the same problem and are less likely to get value in the long run.

    It's also the same reason I don't necessarily agree with best player available, because it has the same issue.  It's fine once in a while when you really feel the player is worth the selection, but not as a general rule when making selections.

    I know it's all probanility on whether any.of them become NHLers, but putting all your eggs in any one basket is never a good bet to make.

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    I look at the Wild's drafts in 2020 and 2021 primarily while we were being told Brackett is the guru who was stepped over to select a Euro over Matthew Tkachuk. At the same time we watch him take Euros with almost all his 1st rd. picks save one before Stramel and Buium. 

    I just wanna see some results. If you watch NHL hockey and see guys who MN could have easily picked doing great while the Wild wait to see their selections establish an obvious NHL role, it's aggravating. Another example is when Rossi fails to meet 1C expectations or like Knudi, is traded away when MN could've picked half a dozen other players who are in the NHL now quite successfully.  

    If you ignore hindsight or refuse to relook at your decisions, how is that good? MN has had a boatload of picks through 2020-2023 and just one is in the NHL proving to be consistently effective. 

    This season I wanna see Brackett's picks make it. If they continue to be just replacement guys who can't take a spot from NoJo, or if Rossi gets traded cause Sturm fills the Lundell type role MN wants, it reiterates the points we've been making for years. The Wild's selection & development process, use of veterans, stop-gap players hasn't been good enough. The Wild have to get better than Dallas, Colorado, Winnipeg, and STL is always eating MN's lunch too. It's an uphill battle in the Central even if Brackett's picks turn out to be everything you hope. 

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