ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson will have offseason surgery on his hip, putting his readiness for the beginning of training camp in question.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin said Monday the procedure would take place “as soon as possible” to repair damage from overall wear and tear, not in response to any specific injury that occurred during the playoffs.
Gustavsson slumped down the stretch of the regular season and was benched for the start of the playoffs when rookie Jesper Wallstedt took over as the No. 1 goalie. Gustavsson made one postseason start, a 5-2 loss at Colorado in Game 2 of the second-round NHL playoff series. The Avalanche ousted the Wild in five games.
Gustavsson signed a five-year, $34 million contract extension last October that kicks in with the 2026-27 season and carries a full no-trade clause for the first two years. He went 28-15-6 in 49 starts during the regular season with a 2.69 goals-against average, a .903 save percentage and four shutouts in his fourth year with the Wild.
Wallstedt was 18-9-6 in 33 starts with a 2.61 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage and four shutouts. During the playoffs, he won five of 10 starts, gave up three or fewer goals seven times, and made 30-plus saves in half of his appearances.
Given the commitment the Wild made to Gustavsson after the retirement of Marc-Andre Fleury and the performance by Wallstedt during his debut season, the 2021 first-round draft pick would be one of the club’s most valuable trade chips to use in the long-running quest to find a true No. 1 center.
That path, though, would come with considerable risk.
“I like our goaltending situation, to be quite honest with you,” Guerin said at his season-ending news conference. “Both of our goalies are No. 1 goalies, you know? The luxury of it is being able to put a fresh rested goalie in the net every night, and you know both guys are signed. They’re both very good. They work well in a tandem. They support each other. I’m very comfortable with where it is.”
For their part, both Gustavsson and Wallstedt endorsed the time share in exit interviews with reporters last week. The fact that they’re both natives of Sweden and recent Olympic teammates doesn’t hurt the dynamic, either.
“I thought our competition was really good in everything, from every day being in practice, to competing in drills, to what we did off ice, and to competing to play the games,” Wallstedt said. “I thought it made us both better.”
