The Wild's Depth In Net Is Becoming An Organizational Strength

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. 

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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.