To be successful in one of the most stressful positions in sports, goalies are expected to have quick reflexes, superior vision and short memories. For Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt, long stretches of the 2024-25 season are a time he would like to forget. To his credit, he has — after some introspection.
“It was more about thinking through last year. Get through it, analyze it, put it behind and not think about it anymore, then look forward with excitement to the season coming up,” said Wallstedt, who won nine of 27 appearances for the Iowa Wild last season and went 0-2 in two NHL appearances last December. “I feel like head and body are in a really good spot.”
Asked again about last season’s struggles in Iowa, when he posted admittedly disappointing numbers — 3.59 goals-against average, .879 saves percentage — Wallstedt made it clear he had moved on.
“That’s enough about that,” he said.
Wallstedt, who turns 23 in November, was the Wild’s first-round pick (20th overall) in the 2021 NHL draft. He has beaten Winnipeg twice this preseason as he preps for what will most likely be the backup role at the NHL level behind No. 1 goalie Filip Gustavsson.
In the Wild’s preseason home finale on Tuesday, Wallstedt overcame a slow start and finished with 26 saves in a 3-2 win. It included killing a quartet of Winnipeg power plays, one with just 3:15 left in regulation, and a busy final minute when the Jets’ goalie was on the bench for an extra attacker.
All of that had the goalie smiling postgame.
“I felt that our PK was good all game. I felt like we did a good job, and I think we all felt that we were confident on the PK,” Wallstedt said. “You don’t want to (have to) kill that late in a game when you’re up, but I think we knew what we were supposed to do out there.”
Wallstedt was part of a rare three-man goalie room for the first handful of Wild games last season before the team settled on Gustavsson and now-retired veteran Marc-Andre Fleury as the primary tandem. With a fellow Swede as his presumptive understudy this season, Gustavsson predicts a good relationship in the crease.
“It’s a little easier. I speak better Swedish than French,” Gustavsson deadpanned. “So, you can talk a little more on a personal level and stuff like that. Jesper’s a great guy, so it’s easy to deal with him.”
Coach John Hynes likes a goalie tandem that is friendly and respectful but acknowledged it’s not just about getting along.
“I think that there also needs to be a healthy competition,” he said. “That they do push each other from a competitive standpoint for playing time, for starts.”
His first start as a regular member of an NHL roster is still to come, but Wallstedt came to Minnesota feeling lighter, faster and more explosive. He also feels confident and can look back on a wealth of success in September as he looks to translate that game to October and beyond.
“I feel very ready. I think I’ve had a great preseason every year I’ve been here,” he said. “I think I’ve still won every game I’ve started during the preseason. So, now it’s just about converting that into when the season starts. I feel very confident. I feel like I’ve matured a little bit. I feel like my game is in a great place.”
Even if that place is in the secondary role.
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