Jesper Wallstedt Needs Better Support in Iowa If the Wild Extend Fleury
It was nice to see Jesper Wallstedt start another NHL game last week, a 4-0 shutout win against the lottery-bound Chicago Blackhawks. The “goalie of the future” sure sounded like a guy who needed a bit of a confidence boost to make up for his disastrous January 10 NHL debut in Dallas months ago.
With the Minnesota Wild officially eliminated from the playoffs, the Swedish netminder will likely play at least one more game before the season ends. What isn’t so certain is Minnesota’s plans for Wallstedt next season. Whatever that choice ends up being, the Wild must surround Wallstedt with a much better situation than he had this season.
The Iowa Wild were among the worst teams in the AHL last year. If Wallstedt plays in Des Moines again next season, he needs a better supporting cast.
At the beginning of this year, the plan seemed obvious: Marc-Andre Fleury would play out the final year of his contract in tandem with Filip Gustavsson, then retire at the age of 39 this summer. That would start the clock on his inevitable invite into the Hockey Hall of Fame. However, it seems like the ageless French-Canadian is open to playing another season with the Wild.
His long-time friend and general manager, Bill Guerin, will likely welcome Flower back with open arms. (Rumor is it could have something to do with the locker room.) And while many would hope the Wild could find a way to trade Gustavsson this summer to make room for Wallstedt, that will likely be more difficult than previously thought. The Wild would be selling “Gus Bus” at his lowest value.
Gustavsson signed a three-year extension last summer following a Vezina-finalist season. Although the goalie market should have some hungry suitors this off-season, a netminder with a sub-.900 save percentage and two more years at a $3.75 million cap hit is a difficult sell to interested teams. At this point, Guerin should keep Gustavsson and bank on a bounce-back season and return to form.
With Gustavsson likely staying put and Fleury wishing to return another year, Wallstedt seems destined for another season of development in Iowa. And that’s fine. Nobody should panic over a top prospect needing another year in the AHL. Goalie development is the least linear development path of all positions in the NHL, and Wallstedt hasn’t exactly shown himself to be far superior to his peers in Des Moines.
But if that’s the case, it would be development malpractice for the Wild to surround Wallstedt with a similar supporting cast as he had this year.
Iowa is currently dead last in the AHL by points percentage. They’ve scored the second-fewest goals in the entire league and have surrendered the fifth-most. And the year prior, Wallstedt’s first season as a pro, Iowa was barely a .500 team and struggled again offensively, even though Marco Rossi was leading the team. They made the playoffs. However, in a league where 23 of the 32 teams qualify for the postseason, it’s not a great measuring stick for how well an AHL team is structured.
In fairness, the myriad of injuries that ravaged Minnesota’s lineup in the middle of the season is a significant reason why Iowa’s season spun out of control. In a matter of weeks, Iowa found itself without its best players for large stretches. That includes its starting goaltender, Wallstedt, who Minnesota called up during Gustavsson’s absence in January. It’s extremely difficult to compete in what many call the second-best league in the world when most of your top-six forwards, top defensive pairing, and starting goaltender are missing from your lineup.
But that’s also why it’s imperative for Guerin and Co. to ensure depth doesn’t become the demise of Iowa next year, which would affect their prized goaltender’s development. Minnesota’s roster isn’t getting younger. The injury issues that plagued the pro club this season could rear their ugly head again next season. If Guerin is going to extend Fluery one more season and ask Wallstedt to stay in Iowa, he can’t let injuries to the pro club completely wipe out another competitive season for Wallstedt in which the meaningful games are over even before we all give up on our New Year’s resolutions.
