The Minnesota Wild’s strong 10-3-3 start has plenty of moving parts, but Jesper Wallstedt has been at the center of it. With Filip Gustavsson sidelined by injury, Wallstedt has been pushed into the kind of workload that tests a young goalie fast. He hasn’t blinked.
Through 16 games, he has made 14 starts and put together a 9-2-3 record. That’s the kind of run that changes the conversation.
At this point, the question isn’t whether Wallstedt can handle being an NHL starter. He’s already answered that.
The bigger question is whether he’s moving into the class of the game’s elite.
That idea may sound early with only 54 career starts on his ledger, but the buzz is already there. After Minnesota’s recent win over the Capitals, Washington coach Spencer Carbery didn’t hold back on what he sees in the Wild netminder.
“He’s a top goaltender in the league for a reason,” Carbery said. “This is his third year in the league. … He’s a real deal.”
Wallstedt’s rise is happening at a time when the goaltending landscape is shifting. Established names like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Connor Hellebuyck are still productive, but all three are deep into their careers and posted save percentages below their career averages last season. That opens the door for new names to enter the annual Vezina conversation, and Wallstedt looks ready to step through it.
The numbers back it up. Among goalies with at least five starts, Wallstedt is near the top in almost every major category.
He ranks second in wins with nine, seventh in goals-against average at 2.06, and seventh in save percentage at .920. The advanced metrics are even more eye-catching: first in goals saved above expected at 10.6, fourth in goals saved above expected per 60 at .947, and fifth in save percentage above expected at .0180.
Sunday’s 5-1 win over Washington showed exactly why those numbers matter. The final score made it look comfortable, but the game was anything but.
Minnesota carried a 2-1 lead into the third after the Capitals spent much of the middle period pushing hard. Washington led in expected goals for most of the night, and the Wild only finished ahead in that category 3.53 to 3.29.
Wallstedt was the difference. He stopped 26 of 27 shots and finished with 2.29 goals saved above expected.
The traffic wasn’t light, either. He faced 13 medium-danger shot attempts and four high-danger chances.
His teammates noticed. Michael McCarron said Wallstedt stole the game.
“Our team got bailed out by our goalie tonight,” McCarron said. “I thought in the second period, they could have had three or four goals, and I thought it was a lot tighter of a game than 5-1.”
That kind of outing has become familiar for Minnesota. Wallstedt has given the Wild a chance in every game he’s played, and they haven’t lost one of his starts by more than a goal this season.
For a team with the best top line in hockey and several elite pieces around it, that matters. If the goalie keeps the game close, the rest of the roster has a chance to take over.
Gustavsson will eventually return, and Wallstedt will likely get some relief. But for now, he has firmly taken hold of the Wild’s crease. If this pace holds, the Vezina votes won’t be far behind.
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