Barring something unforeseen, the 2025-26 Minnesota Wild season will begin with Filip Gustavson as the top goalie and Jesper Wallstedt as the backup, ready to carry part of the puck-stopping load.
But looking a little further down the Wild organization’s depth chart, general manager Bill Guerin returned from the recent World Championship in Sweden and Denmark liking what he saw from another goaltending prospect under contract in Minnesota.
Samuel Hlavaj, who turned 24 late last month, appeared in five games for Slovakia at the Worlds and put up impressive numbers while backstopping a pair of wins. In 36 appearances for the Iowa Wild last season, he had 14 wins and a save percentage of .904. The Slovaks were blanked twice in the World Championship preliminary round, and the lack of goal support was costly despite the goalie’s solid numbers.
“Hlavaj played great. They didn’t go as far as probably they wanted to, but him playing that big role for them was really important, especially for a goalie,” Guerin said. “There’s a lot of pressure and that’s what you need to be able to perform under pressure.”
One of the key defensemen for Czechia in the tournament was David Spacek, drafted by the Wild in the fifth round in 2022. Spacek, 22, played 72 games for Iowa last season and finished second on the team in assists. He was born in Ohio while his father, Jaroslav, was playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets, but David, 22, has elected to play for his family’s native county and gained valuable experience this spring.
“Spacek has played an important role on their national team for the past few years,” Guerin said, recalling the 2024 World Championship when Czechia beat Team USA in the medal round by a 1-0 score. Spacek set up Pavel Zacha for the game’s only goal and the hosts Czechs went on to win the gold medal.
“He’s playing important, meaningful hockey, and for us, prospect-wise, that’s great. We want him to have those experiences,” Guerin said.
With the Wild blue line in some potential flux at the NHL level, as veterans like Zach Bogosian and Jon Merrill near the ends of their contracts, Spacek is a name to remember if there are back end holes to fill as soon as the coming season.
Brock Nelson signs extension in Colorado
While veteran forward Brock Nelson lives in the Twin Cities in the off-season and occasionally gets back to Warroad, his northern Minnesota hometown, his career path will likely not include a stop in the State of Hockey.
On Wednesday the Colorado Avalanche announced a three-year contract extension for Nelson, who will turn 34 this fall.
Picked late in the first round by the New York Islanders in the 2010 NHL Draft, Nelson spent all of his career on Long Island until being dealt to Colorado near the trade deadline last season. He had 13 points in 19 regular season games for the Avalanche, and added four assists in their seven-game opening round playoff loss to Dallas.
A standout at the University of North Dakota prior to turning professional, Nelson is the grandson of 1960 Olympic gold medalist Bill Christian, and the nephew of Dave Christian, who led the 1980 Miracle on Ice team in assists.
Former Gopher to lead USA U-18 Women
Two decades ago, Courtney Kennedy took a chance on a fledgling women’s hockey program at the University of Minnesota, and the Massachusetts native ended up being a key player in the Gophers’ 2000 national title.
Now a skills coach for the Boston Fleet of the PWHL, Kennedy will get a chance to coach gold medalists next after USA Hockey named her head coach for the 2026 U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team for the forthcoming World Championships next January in Nova Scotia.
Haley Skarupa will serve as the team’s general manager, while current Gophers women’s assistant coach Greg “Boom” May will be one of Team USA’s assistant coaches. Originally from Burnsville, May was previously the men’s hockey head coach at Augsburg University, and the hockey operations director for the Gophers men.
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