{"id":546515,"date":"2026-01-27T09:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T09:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/546515\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T09:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T09:29:12","slug":"minnesota-wild-open-to-trading-jesper-wallstedt-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/546515\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Wild Open To Trading Jesper Wallstedt \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Minnesota Wild \u201cwould be open to dealing\u201d top young netminder Jesper Wallstedt<\/strong><\/a> \u201cif the right deal comes along,\u201d The Athletic\u2019s Michael Russo reported today<\/a>. On Sportsnet\u2019s 32 Thoughts podcast today<\/a>, Elliotte Friedman echoed Russo\u2019s report, adding that Wild GM Bill Guerin may have already attempted to deal Wallstedt as part of his longstanding efforts to acquire a top-six center.<\/p>\n

As part of Russo\u2019s report, he indicated that \u201cthe right deal\u201d to include Wallstedt, from the Wild\u2019s perspective, would be one that brings a pivot capable of filling the No. 1 center role to Minnesota. The Wild are, according to Russo, \u201caggressively looking\u201d to add a top-six center to their lineup. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t exactly fresh news, nor is it something that would come as any real surprise to anyone who takes a look at the Wild\u2019s current depth chart at the position. But what is new are these concrete reports that the Wild are willing to include Wallstedt in a deal that fills their longstanding need.<\/p>\n

On one hand, the Wild\u2019s reported willingness to deal Wallstedt is somewhat surprising. That\u2019s largely because of how excellent he\u2019s been this season, which has supercharged his stock league wide. Wallstedt has a .914 save percentage through 21 games this season, and while he\u2019s slowed down a little bit, he earned some votes in NHL.com\u2019s midseason poll<\/a> of Vezina Trophy candidates.<\/p>\n

This breakout season has been a long time coming for Wallstedt, who has long been considered one of the game\u2019s best prospects at the position. The 2021 first-round pick had a tough 2024-25 campaign, but impressed in his first two seasons in the AHL, posting .908 and .910 save percentages in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively. Under contract through next year at a $2.2MM cap hit, Wallstedt looks to be an emerging starting goalie, and one that could provide a significant amount of surplus value if given the right workload.<\/p>\n

But what makes Wallstedt\u2019s name surfacing in trade rumors less of a surprise is the wider situation Minnesota finds itself in at the goalie position. While Wallstedt could indeed provide a considerable amount of surplus value due to his $2.2MM cap hit, Minnesota isn\u2019t positioned to truly take advantage of that. Wallstedt currently operates in a tandem with 27-year-old Filip Gustavsson<\/a><\/strong>, who has been one of the league\u2019s better goalies since arriving in the Twin Cities. He has a .908 save percentage in 33 games this season, and is likely to be Minnesota\u2019s go-to option in the playoffs, even if Wallstedt isn\u2019t dealt.<\/p>\n

Not only is Gustavsson Minnesota\u2019s No. 1 netminder at this moment, his contract positions him to occupy that role for the foreseeable future, without much room for that to change. The $6.8MM AAV contract extension Gustavsson signed in October 2025 carries a full no-move clause for the first two years of its duration, before morphing into a 15-team no-trade clause. That NMC means the Wild are essentially locked into keeping Gustavsson as their starter for the next few years, a reality that makes trading Wallstedt all the more logical.<\/p>\n

Wallstedt has long been projected to eventually become an impactful NHL goalie; As a result, it wouldn\u2019t be a surprise if Gustavsson\u2019s agent, Kurt Overhardt, negotiated the NMC into the first two years of Gustavsson\u2019s deal with an eye towards warding against the possibility that his client could be dealt in order to pave the way for Wallstedt to take the reins as an undisputed No. 1 goalie in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Considering all of those factors, it becomes clear why the Wild are considering dealing Wallstedt, even though they likely know they\u2019d be trading away a player who could be one of the league\u2019s top goalies through the 2030s. The logic behind trading Wallstedt becomes even clearer when one considers how singularly focused the Wild are on maximizing their window to win as long as Quinn Hughes<\/strong><\/a> remains a Wild player.<\/p>\n

Hughes\u2019 contract is set to expire at the end of the 2026-27 season, and he has not given Minnesota any assurances that he\u2019ll extend his deal and remain there. Consequently, it is in Minnesota\u2019s best interests to not only maximize their chances of winning for the two playoff runs they have Hughes under team control for, but also to try to win as much as possible with Hughes in order to help convince him to sign an extension to remain in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Hughes had to play through some lean years as a member of the Vancouver Canucks, something he acknowledged weighed on him considerably. It\u2019s likely, therefore, that whether or not a team is positioned to legitimately compete for a Stanley Cup will hold a great degree of influence over their odds of signing Hughes. And with Kirill Kaprizov<\/a> <\/strong>now 28 years old, it\u2019s clear the Wild\u2019s competitive aspirations lie in players more around Gustavsson\u2019s age (late twenties) than Wallstedt\u2019s (early-to-mid twenties.)<\/p>\n

As for who the Wild might target in any Wallstedt deal, that becomes more difficult to ascertain. The team is reportedly very interested in New York Rangers pivot Vincent Trocheck<\/a><\/strong>. But it\u2019d be surprising to see New York trade Trocheck for a goalie seeing as the team already has star Igor Shesterkin<\/strong><\/a> locked into their starting role for the rest of the decade and beyond.<\/p>\n

A hypothetical three-team trade could land Trocheck in Minnesota and send Wallstedt to a goalie-needy team, with that third team sending skater prospects to New York. But including a third team is a major hurdle to clear, and one that makes it so Minnesota is likely to need to leverage other assets if they want to acquire Trocheck.<\/p>\n

Considering teams that might covet Wallstedt, or at least have a more pressing need in net, a few other potential candidates emerge. On the most recent trade board made by The Athletic\u2019s Chris Johnston<\/a>, there were five centers listed that most would reasonably consider to be of the top-six caliber Guerin is seeking: Nazem Kadri<\/strong><\/a>, Elias Pettersson<\/strong><\/a>, Robert Thomas<\/strong><\/a>, Ryan O\u2019Reilly<\/strong><\/a>, and Trocheck.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Wild, nobody in that group appears to be a real candidate to be traded in a deal involving Wallstedt. The Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators (employers of Kadri and O\u2019Reilly, respectively) each have goalies (Dustin Wolf<\/strong><\/a> for Calgary, Juuse Saros<\/a><\/strong> for Nashville) whose presence would likely limit their interest in Wallstedt. The goalie situation of the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues are more up in the air, but Minnesota may not want to take on Pettersson\u2019s hefty $11.6MM cap hit, and the Blues are unlikely to have much interest in dealing their No. 1 center to a divisional rival.<\/p>\n

Among teams who would stand to benefit most from adding Wallstedt, the New Jersey Devils are a clear candidate. While backup Jake Allen<\/strong><\/a> has performed admirably, starter Jacob Markstrom<\/a> <\/strong>has endured a brutal campaign. Adding Wallstedt might stabilize the Devils at a position that has caused them so much trouble in recent years, but it\u2019s not a clean fit. Markstrom signed a two-year, $6.5MM extension in October, and has a full NMC through the end of the season. Allen has a full NTC through 2026-27, and is under contract (at an affordable $1.8MM AAV) through 2029-30. Fitting Wallstedt into that picture might not be realistic.<\/p>\n

The Ottawa Senators have a clear need in net, but trading away a key center such as Shane Pinto<\/strong><\/a> or Dylan Cozens<\/strong><\/a> may be a less optimal route for the team to improve than simply attempting to get incumbent starter Linus Ullmark<\/a><\/strong>\u2018s game back on track.<\/p>\n

The Montreal Canadiens have a clear immediate need in net due to the struggles of Sam Montembeault<\/strong><\/a> and Jakub Dobes<\/a><\/strong>, but the looming presence of top prospect Jacob Fowler<\/strong><\/a> could scuttle the possibility of a deal. While Montreal would certainly benefit from adding Wallstedt, trading away the kind of center Minnesota would demand in return (such as promising rookie Oliver Kapanen<\/a><\/strong>) might not be in the team\u2019s best interests with Fowler so close to being NHL-ready.<\/p>\n

This is all to say that as things currently stand, Wallstedt is one of the most interesting trade candidates heading into this year\u2019s deadline. They have many different factors to contend with when deciding not only whether or not to trade him, but also what kind of deal to construct if he\u2019s indeed traded. The numerous different considerations the club will need to navigate are fascinating, and make Wallstedt a clear player to watch moving forward.<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Minnesota Wild \u201cwould be open to dealing\u201d top young netminder Jesper Wallstedt \u201cif the right deal comes…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":546516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[10490,112289,190101,3112,293,10440,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-546515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ahl","9":"tag-bill-guerin","10":"tag-jesper-wallstedt","11":"tag-minnesota-wild","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-prospects","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115966362581513800","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}