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Wild Notes: Gustavsson, Sundqvist, Zuccarello

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Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that Filip Gustavsson was the first goalie off at Minnesota Wild practice today indicating that he will likely get the start in game six tonight against the Dallas Stars. Gustavsson has been between the pipes for four of the Wild’s five playoff games and has given up just nine goals on 125 shots. Although those numbers are sparking, Gustavsson has struggled in each of his last two starts giving up three goals in each game on just 24 shots. This drop in his play coupled with the brilliant play of Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger has Minnesota on the ropes as they will face elimination in game six tonight.

There was some speculation that Minnesota could turn to veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to start game six, but Fleury has struggled in his last four starts dating back to early April. The former Vezina winner has only started one game in the series, a game two loss in which he gave up seven goals on 31 shots. Gustavsson had superior numbers to Fleury in the regular season as well and may even garner some Vezina consideration come awards season.

In other Minnesota notes:

  • Michael Russo tweeted that Oskar Sundqvist could possibly play tonight for the Wild. Sundqvist hasn’t dressed since game two of the Dallas series and has a goal in just a single game in these playoffs. The two-time Stanley Cup winner was healthy scratched for game three and hasn’t seen game action since. The 29-year-old Swede came over from the Detroit Red Wings in a trade deadline move for a fourth-round pick and looked to be a fit putting up seven points in 15 games. However, in the playoffs the Wild have opted for more toughness and have kept Ryan Reaves in the lineup over Sundqvist.
  • Russo also tweeted that Wild forward Mats Zuccarello will likely be out of the lineup, or best-case scenario he will be a game time decision. The Norway native didn’t skate yesterday with the team and is dealing with an undisclosed ailment. The Wild have been tight lipped about the situation and at this point there are more questions than answers. Zuccarello has been fantastic for the Wild this season with 67 points in 78 games during the regular season and has followed that up with two goals and three assists through five playoff games. Should he be unable to dress, the Wild will be hard pressed to replicate his production in the most important game of their season.

Minnesota Wild Recall Nine Players

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The Iowa Wild were eliminated from Calder Cup contention a few days ago, but it isn’t summer vacation for all their players yet. Nine members of Iowa’s roster are on their way to join the Minnesota Wild as a set of “Black Aces,” players who will practice with the club and serve as injury insurance in the playoffs.

Adam Beckman, Steven Fogarty, Nic Petan, Marco Rossi, Nick Swaney, Samuel Walker, Daemon Hunt, Dakota Mermis, and Zane McIntyre have all been recalled.

Of course, after dropping game five on Tuesday the Wild are on the brink of elimination themselves. They’ll take on the Dallas Stars in a do-or-die matchup tomorrow night, trying to force a game seven in the first-round series.

All but Hunt have appeared in the NHL previously. The 20-year-old defenseman is in his first professional season after being selected 65th overall in 2020, and posted 11 points in 59 regular season games for Iowa.

The others are a mix of minor league veterans and top prospects. Rossi falls into the latter category, though his time in the NHL this year didn’t go well. The 2020 ninth-overall pick registered just a single assist (and no goals) in 19 games with Minnesota. While his development has been interrupted by health issues, Rossi’s inability to grab a roster spot was one of the season’s low points for the Wild.

There is at least a possibility that someone from this group does enter the lineup. According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman are both not practicing today, though their status for tomorrow’s game is unclear.

NHL Announces 2023 Global Series

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The NHL is heading back to Europe, sending four teams to Sweden for the 2023 Global Series games. The Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Minnesota Wild will play a total of four games in mid-November.

The games will take place in Stockholm, Sweden, a city that has hosted more NHL games than any other outside of North America. The four matches will be:

  • November 16: Red Wings vs. Senators
  • November 17: Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings
  • November 18: Wild vs. Senators
  • November 19: Maple Leafs vs. Wild

The four teams have several Swedish-born stars on their current rosters and long franchise ties to the country. Hall of Fame former players like Nicklas Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Mats Sundin, Daniel Alfredsson, and Borje Salming will certainly be represented in the sea of NHL sweaters, while current names like Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, Filip Gustavsson, Lucas Raymond, and William Nylander will surely wow the crowds.

The games will be played at Avicii Arena, the famous Globe that regularly holds some of Sweden’s largest events.

Stars/Wild Notes: Wallstedt, Eriksson Ek, Pavelski

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With the Iowa Wild’s quick elimination from the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs, The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports the Minnesota Wild are expected to call up their complement of Black Aces today to be around the team while their playoff run continues. While most won’t be called up after Iowa’s exit meetings, Russo said that top goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt has already been recalled and will serve as the third goalie behind the team’s tandem of Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury.

Wallstedt, 20, didn’t have the playoff performance he wanted in Iowa, recording a .897 save percentage in two overtime losses as Iowa lost their best-of-three series against the Rockford IceHogs. It doesn’t diminish what was a promising stretch run to the season for him, wrapping up his first pro season in North America with a .908 save percentage and a shutout in 38 games for Iowa. Selected 20th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, Wallstedt remains one of the best goalie prospects in the league and should gain valuable experience from being around the Minnesota team for the rest of their postseason.

  • After attempting to return from injury in Game 3 and skating just one shift, things aren’t looking up for the health of Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek. Head coach Dean Evason told reporters today Eriksson Ek hasn’t skated since his latest injury, as he’s still in the process of evaluation and “not close” to returning to the lineup. Eyes now turn to Sam Steel and Frédérick Gaudreau, who have both performed well so far in the series, to shoulder Eriksson Ek’s absence.
  • On the flip side, Dallas Stars winger Joe Pavelski continues to progress in his recovery after a hit in Game 1 that caused him to enter concussion protocol. Pavelski skated with the team today for the first time since the injury, and head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters Pavelski’s progressed in his recovery each day. It remains unclear whether Pavelski will return this series.

Joel Eriksson Ek Will Miss Game Four

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Saad Yousuf of The Athletic reports that Minnesota Wild coach Dean Evason has ruled center Joel Eriksson Ek out for their game four matchup against the Dallas Stars tonight. Evason didn’t give many more details about his availability for the rest of the series, but to say that he wouldn’t be playing this evening.

The 26-year-old Swede missed six games including games one and two of the Dallas series before he returned in game three where he played 19 seconds on the opening shift and left the game. Minnesota has yet to comment on whether Eriksson Ek re-aggravated his previous injury.

Eriksson Ek had an offensive breakout this season for the Wild this year scoring 23 goals and 38 assists in 78 games. His goal totals dipped from 26 to 23, however he demonstrated a different gear when it came to his playmaking. The former first round pick also continued the defensive excellence that has seen him garner Selke consideration the past two seasons.

Minnesota will have an opportunity to put the Stars on the ropes if they can capture game four and take a 3-1 series lead back to Dallas.

Joel Eriksson Ek Being Evaluated

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  • Sarah McLellan of Star Tribune Sports reports that Joel Eriksson Ek is being evaluated by the Minnesota Wild, and would likely know if he will be in the lineup before their game tomorrow. Eriksson Ek returned to the Wild for Game Three and only managed to play for 19 seconds before leaving for the rest of the game. Although Minnesota has a 2-1 lead so far in the series, Eriksson Ek was one of four Wild players to score more than 60 points this season, and will certainly be missed by Minnesota.

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Wild Fire Most Of AHL Coaching Staff

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The Wild will have close to a new coaching staff at the AHL level next season as they announced that the contracts of head coach Tim Army and assistants Nate DiCasmirro and Nolan Yonkman will not be renewed for next season.

Iowa had a 34-27-11 record this season but they were quickly eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs, dropping their best-of-three series against Rockford (Chicago) in two straight games.  Top prospects Marco Rossi (51 points in 53 games) and Jesper Wallstedt (.908 SV% in 38 contests) both had good seasons but their improvement evidently wasn’t enough to keep the coaching staff intact.

Army has led Iowa for the past five seasons but they haven’t had a lot of postseason success in that stretch, winning just one series back in 2019.  The 59-year-old also has some NHL coaching experience having spent six years as an assistant with Colorado which could help get him some interest elsewhere this summer.

As for DiCasmirro, he was in his second season as an assistant with the team, his first full-time coaching role after a long playing career that ended in 2019.  He also served as an assistant for Austria at the most recent World Juniors.  Yonkman, meanwhile, was also in his second season with the team in what was his first full-time coaching role since returning in 2019.

This will be GM Bill Guerin’s first opportunity to hire an AHL head coach as Army had completed his first season before Guerin took over running Minnesota in 2019.  The only coach believed to be returning is goaltending coach Richard Bachman.  Iowa joins Grand Rapids (Detroit), Henderson (Vegas), and San Diego (Anaheim) as teams looking for a new head coach at the AHL level.

Michael Russo of The Athletic was the first to report that the coaching changes were being made.

Minnesota Wild Reassign Sammy Walker

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The Minnesota Wild have reassigned forward Sammy Walker back to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported earlier today that top Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek left today’s practice with the non-scratches, hinting that he could be nearing a return to the ice. Walker had been on the Wild’s roster as a reserve player to help deal with Eriksson Ek’s absence, so this reassignment combined with Russo’s note from practice points to the increasingly likely possibility that Eriksson Ek is getting ready to play again.

Of course, another possible factor motivating this reassignment is the fact that AHL Iowa is fighting to keep their season alive tonight against the Rockford IceHogs. A Rocco Grimaldi overtime winner for Rockford in the first game of the AHL’s best-of-three playoff qualifying series put Iowa on the brink of elimination, so seeing as Walker has been one of their top scoring forwards this season it makes sense that the organization would want him back in the AHL to keep Iowa’s Calder Cup hopes alive.

That being said, NHL considerations always come first so it’s more likely that this reassignment has to do with Eriksson Ek’s progress than the team sacrificing a reserve insurance player in order to help out their affiliate in a qualifying-round series.

Should Eriksson Ek make his return soon, he would provide the Wild with a major boost in their currently deadlocked first-round series against the Dallas Stars. His 61 points this season were tops among Wild centers and his defensive play has drawn rave reviews from across the league for years now.

As for Walker, he’ll now get the chance to help AHL Iowa save their season. The former Minnesota Gopher has scored 27 goals and 48 points in 56 AHL games, an impressive performance for a rookie professional. He didn’t get into either of the Wild’s two playoff games, and last played in the NHL on April 13th.

Ryan Hartman To Miss Game 2

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  • Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman was the hero in Game 1, scoring in double overtime to secure the win and take a 1-0 series lead. Unfortunately, he will not get the same chance in Game 2. Per a team release, Hartman will not play when the Wild meet the Dallas Stars looking to take a two game series lead. The 28-year-old forward had 15 goals and 37 points in 59 games for the Wild in the regular season. He has been dealing with a lower-body injury that he battled through to win Game 1 for the Wild, but it will keep him from suiting up in Game 2.

Wild/Stars Notes: Walker, Wild Injuries, Pavelski

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The Minnesota Wild recalled forward Sammy Walker from AHL Iowa this morning, per the team, adding some extra reinforcements to their playoff roster. He’s not expected to play tonight for Game 2 against Dallas, with coach Dean Evason telling reporters this morning that Walker’s recall is just the team “protecting itself” from any further injuries to their forward corps.

If he does suit up while on this recall, though, it will be the first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance for the 23-year-old. The free agent signing out of the University of Minnesota wrapped up his AHL regular season with 48 points in 56 games and will be a crucial absence for Iowa as they begin their playoff run. Walker earned nine games of NHL experience with Minnesota this season, recording his first NHL goal and assist.

  • Both Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman practiced with the Wild this morning, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith. Hartman suited up in Game 1, scoring the double-overtime winner, but most watching the game would indicate he didn’t look at 100 percent health. Eriksson Ek, on the other hand, has missed nearly two weeks with a lower-body injury but could be ready to return sooner than expected. His return would be a gigantic boost for a Wild team that’s already stolen home ice in the series, giving the team a more well-balanced offensive attack between their first and second lines.
  • Dallas Stars head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters this morning that Joe Pavelski is “feeling better” after leaving Game 1’s loss due to a collision with Wild defender Matt Dumba, although he remains in concussion protocol. Pavelski will not suit up in Game 2 but has not been ruled out for a return during the series. In his absence, Tyler Seguin is expected to slide in on the top line alongside Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz.

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