Filip Gustavsson has a year left on his contract. Will the Minnesota Wild look to extend him? What about Jesper Wallstedt?
Worst Seats in the House Podcast: Michael Russo and Anthony LaPanta talk about the Minnesota Wild and their goaltending. Filip Gustavsson has a year left on his contract. Do they sign him to an extension? What about Jesper Wallstedt, and where would that leave him?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Russo: “You know, I haven’t talked to you since I sat down with Filip Gustafsson in, in, in Milan the other day. But, you know, I talked to him a lot about his offseason. But also the fact that he’s talked to his agent, as the Wild come talking to him about a potential extension, that he’s absolutely open to it.
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Now the question is price. Like this is kind of a, this kind of a bit of a dilemma, Anthony. like if you’re, if you’re the Wild, because right now, the prices of starting goalies are five and a half to six and a half. So if you get ahead of this, which you might want to, and give him that type of commitment, then what happens if Jesper Wallstedt is the real deal right away this season, and how you’ve just signed him? So it’s just gonna be interesting how they navigate.”
LaPanta: “Well that, and you know, we’ve talked a lot about how great a season Filip Gustavsson had last year. Not just in his numbers, but just in his, in his presence, in his ability to handle the pressure, mentally and physically of the number one guy. But it’s only a year.”
Russo: “Right.”
LaPanta: “It isn’t like this guy’s done it for four years. What if there’s a regression? I don’t expect that there will be, but there could be. And so I think there’s a lot of variables out there with Filip.
And I, but I also think the likelihood of him being what everybody kind of thinks he is right now is high. And that, you know, this is a guy who looks like he’s a upper half of the NHL, number one goaltender to me. And so if you have a chance to sign him at a price that will be team friendly a couple of years down the road, I’d say you take a shot.”
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Russo: “Yeah, he’s only 27 years old. And then, of course, if you do that, then that now means that you’re not exactly committing to Wallstedt. So we’ll see the way the Wallstedt plays as well.”
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