MILAN \u2014 Kirill Kaprizov isn\u2019t the Minnesota Wild\u2019s only significant player potentially heading toward unrestricted free agency following this coming season. So is No. 1 goalie Filip Gustavsson.<\/p>\n
The Wild have yet to engage Gustavsson\u2019s camp in extension talks this offseason, but that could change as the calendar turns to September.<\/p>\n
As we saw when training camp began in 2023, if general manager Bill Guerin is motivated to re-sign a player (or players), he and his staff don\u2019t necessarily need weeks and weeks of negotiations to get a deal done.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Guerin met with Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello at the start of the camp, and by the month\u2019s end, Foligno and Zuccarello had four- and two-year extensions completed, respectively. Hartman got a three-year deal a week later.<\/p>\n
With soon-to-be backup goalie Jesper Wallstedt\u2019s \u201cGoalie of the Future\u201d status murky at this point, and coming off a self-described \u201cterrible\u201d year<\/a> in Iowa, there\u2019s a chance the Wild will want to get a jump on locking down Gustavsson beyond this season.<\/p>\n The Athletic spoke to Gustavsson at the European version of the NHL Player Media Tour on Friday, where he said he\u2019s open to talking with the Wild about a future contract.<\/p>\n Lucky Filip Gustavsson. <\/p>\n I\u2019m Stop 1 of about 30 things he has to do today at the NHL European Media Tour in Milano \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9<\/p>\n Six months from today, the men\u2019s hockey Olympic gold medal game will take place in this same city and he hopes to play for Team Sweden \ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddea pic.twitter.com\/coy45G1Eor<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) August 22, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had the conversations with my agent and all that stuff, and what we\u2019re looking into and what we would like to do or stuff like that,\u201d said Gustavsson, 27, who\u2019s entering the final year of a three-year deal that pays him an average of $3.75 million a season. \u201cThey haven\u2019t started actively talking to Billy or anything. When they want to talk, then we talk, and otherwise I have this year left and I\u2019m just gonna play and win.\u201d<\/p>\n Right now, Gustavsson hopes to remain with the Wild for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the past three years, I\u2019ve enjoyed playing there,\u201d Gustavsson said. \u201cMy family loves living there, and it\u2019s been great to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, the situation is complicated because the going rate for starting goalies continues to climb. Evolving Hockey projects Gustavsson to command a hefty $7.46 million AAV on a five-year contract. That\u2019d be more than 7 percent of the 2026-27 $104 million anticipated salary cap ceiling, which would put him below Jake Oettinger ($8.25 million) but higher than Stanley Cup winner Adin Hill ($6.25 million).<\/p>\n That projection seems high, potentially by more than $1 million. Goalies who have signed relatively recently include Lukas Dostal ($6.5 million), Logan Thompson ($5.85 million), MacKenzie Blackwood ($5.25 million), Joey Daccord ($5 million) and Karel Vejmelka ($4.75 million).<\/p>\n Can the Wild stomach signing Gustavsson to an AAV at more than $6 million when he continues to strive for consistency and has yet to lead them to a playoff round victory?<\/p>\n Remember, during the 2024 offseason, after Gustavsson had a rough year, the Wild dangled him out on the trade market. Then he rebounded last year, with a career-high 31 wins in a career-high 58 games while posting a 2.56 goals-against average, .914 save percentage, five shutouts and the first goal by a goaltender in Wild history.<\/p>\n FILIP GUSTAVSSON GOALIE GOAL, THIS IS NOT A DRILL\u203c\ufe0f \ud83d\udea8 pic.twitter.com\/z05VMqtvnv<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ESPN (@espn) October 16, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n We shall see what happens here, but this will be an interesting year between the pipes for the Wild.<\/p>\n The jury\u2019s still out on the 22-year-old Wallstedt, and future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury, often the bubbliest personality in the Wild room and a true mentor to Gustavsson, has retired.<\/p>\n Luckily, the Wild will tap into Fleury\u2019s hockey knowledge by having him work for the organization in some capacity. That means he\u2019ll be around, which Gustavsson joked could be dangerous because it\u2019ll allow the ultimate prankster to roam free in the locker room while the players are on the ice practicing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s gonna be pretty weird,\u201d Gustavsson said of life without \u201cFlower\u201d as a player. \u201cHe always lights up the room when he comes in. He\u2019s always late putting on his stuff, rushing out to the ice and he just always, every day, puts a smile on your face when you see him walking around there. Hopefully, he can show up now and then, and just walk into the room and hang out a little bit.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s going to be exciting seeing Jesper there, you know, another Swede and competing with him.\u201d<\/p>\n Goalies always have the most awkward dynamic on the team.<\/p>\n Gustavsson and Wallstedt hit it off last training camp. They golfed and played video games together often. However, it\u2019s Gustavsson who wants to sign an extension. It\u2019s Gustavsson who is young enough that he could still be the Wild\u2019s goalie of the future.\u00a0He\u2019s now caught between wanting to mentor his young countryman, while also knowing Wallstedt is his chief competition.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a fine line where (you\u2019re) giving too much information almost,\u201d Gustavsson joked. \u201cYou kind of want to help him and get some help back with tips and how we do certain things on the ice and what I do on the ice. You want the team to win, and both of us are going to play games. You have to be helping him that way, too, and keep it positive and be friends like that.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s a weird situation. I don\u2019t know if many have that same direct competition because it\u2019s you, it\u2019s him, and the goalie coach, and you all work very tight together and fighting for one spot.\u201d<\/p>\n After last season, in his exit interview with reporters, Gustavsson insinuated that \u201call my contacts where he was in Sweden\u201d didn\u2019t have glowing endorsements of Wallstedt. So Gustavsson was happy to get to know Wallstedt personally last fall and get his own, firsthand impression. He said Wallstedt\u2019s very funny with silly humor.<\/p>\n \u201cDifferent from my experience, what I heard before that,\u201d Gustavsson said. \u201cWhen you see him and you get a face and talk to him like that, he was very nice. It\u2019s going to be fun just hanging out more around him.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ll see where this goes with potential extension talks heading into the season. Sure, Wallstedt has long been dubbed the goalie of the future, but during his three years in Iowa, he hasn\u2019t lived up to that pressure.<\/p>\n Last season, Wallstedt went 9-14-4 with a 3.59 goals-against average and .879 save percentage. He admitted he didn\u2019t handle it well when the Wild first reassigned him to Iowa and kept him there because of a cap crunch. Remember, the Wild had him believing throughout the summer and all camp that they would somehow be able to carry three goalies despite such little cap space heading into the season. Wallstedt also had three injuries and a week off for what the team called a \u201cmental reset.\u201d<\/p>\n With Iowa, one of the worst teams in the AHL the past two years, Wallstedt went 49-48-14 with a 2.90 goals-against average and .902 save percentage. But he got a two-year, one-way contract extension last training camp, so the assumption is he\u2019ll be Gustavsson\u2019s backup with Cal Petersen acting as the No. 3 and heading to Iowa as long as he clears waivers late in camp.<\/p>\n Great effort today by Filip Gustavsson at the NHL\/NHLPA European Player Media Tour in Milan, Italy\ud83d\udc4a pic.twitter.com\/bOf0ZPoT76<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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