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Jesper Wallstedt

Wild Place Jakub Lauko On IR, Recall Jesper Wallstedt

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The Minnesota Wild have placed forward Jakub Lauko on injured reserve just a few hours after he left the team’s Saturday game against Philadelphia with a lower-body injury. Lauko played three minutes in the win. He’ll now have to miss at least seven days of action, making next Saturday’s matchup against Winnipeg his next chance to step into the lineup. In a corresponding, and surprising, move Minnesota has utilized an emergency recall on goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, suggesting some sort of injury to Filip Gustavsson. Gustavsson backed up Marc-Andre Fleury on Saturday. There’s been no indication of what he may be dealing with.

This news adds to a mounting list of injuries in Minnesota. Winger Mats Zuccarello and defender Jonas Brodin each returned from injury on Saturday – but the team is still without Joel Eriksson Ek, Jacob Middleton, and Yakov Trenin. The former two are both on IR, while the latter was ruled out of Saturday’s game just hours before it started due to an upper-body injury. Luckily, Trenin is only listed as questionable for the team’s Sunday game against Vegas per Michael Russo of The Athletic.

Even Lauko has faced an injury bug, returning on Tuesday from a previous lower-body injury that held him out of six games. It’s unclear if the two injuries are connected, but he’ll return to IR for the second time this season. The routine absences have made it hard for Lauko to find his footing in a new setting after a draft-day trade sent him to Minnesota for Vinni Lettieri and a swap of fourth-round picks. Lauko has recorded four points and a -6 in his first 23 games with the Wild – though he has found ground as a bruiser, ranking third on the team with 46 hits. Lauko is in his third NHL season, spending the previous two in Boston, where he combined for 17 points and 220 hits in 83 games.

The Wild deployed Reese Johnson in Trenin’s role on Saturday. Assuming Trenin returns soon, Johnson could slide over to fill Lauko’s role. Minnesota is also carrying Liam Ohgren and Devin Shore. Neither has scored at in the NHL this season – Ohgren in eight games and Shore in 11 – but they’re both top scorers in the minors. Ohgren has scored 11 points in 12 games for the AHL’s Iowa Wild, while Shore has 10 points in 14 games. Trying to get the monkey off either player’s back at the NHL level could be a good use of time, especially given Ohgren’s case for being Minnesota’s top prospect.

If not Ohgren, the top prospect title would likely go to Wallstedt, even amidst a struggling year. Wallstedt has a 5-6-1 record and .874 save percentage in 12 AHL games this season, including five games of allowing five-or-more goals. This recall could be the balancing piece, though his chance at seeing ice time will largely hinge on the severity of Gustavsson’s injury. Wallstedt played in his first three NHL games last season, setting a 2-1-0 record and .897 save percentage. He’s been the AHL starter since 2022-23, recording a much more encouraging 45-40-10 record and .905 Sv% in 95 games.

Wild Reassign Liam Ohgren, Jesper Wallstedt

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Dec. 4: The Wild announced Wednesday that they reassigned Ohgren and Wallstedt to Iowa. Ohgren did not suit up against Vancouver – evidently, the recalls were for salary cap management purposes to optimize Zuccarello’s LTIR capture.

Dec. 3: The Wild have recalled top prospects Liam Ohgren and Jesper Wallstedt from AHL Iowa ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Canucks, per a team release. The team placed defenseman Jonas Brodin and left-winger Jakub Lauko on injured reserve to open spots on the active roster and also moved right-winger Mats Zuccarello from IR to LTIR to open up the necessary cap space.

Ohgren, 20, made Minnesota’s opening night roster but struggled out of the gate, posting no points and a -2 rating in seven appearances while averaging under 10 minutes a night before being assigned to Iowa at the end of October. He was recalled under emergency conditions for a game against the Stars last month but has otherwise spent all his time in the minors since.

The 2022 first-round pick has fared much better in the AHL, quickly proving himself as one of the club’s most efficient goal-scorers with five in eight contests. It’s unclear if he’ll unseat recent AHL call-ups Ben Jones or Devin Shore for a spot in the lineup tonight with Lauko and Zuccarello still out, but it seems likely.

In Wallstedt’s case, it’s similarly uncertain if they plan to give the 22-year-old his first start of the season between the pipes. Michael Russo of The Athletic “has a sense” that his recall is primarily to get him working with Minnesota’s NHL goaltending staff, one that’s worked wonders to help Filip Gustavsson along to a vicious resurgence this season.

Wallstedt, the 20th overall pick in the 2021 draft, is off to a nightmarish start in Iowa in what the Wild hoped would be his last season seeing minor-league ice. After back-to-back AHL All-Star Game appearances, the 6’3″ Swede has just a .860 SV% and 4.34 GAA in 10 games with Iowa this year behind a 3-6-1 record. Minnesota inked Wallstedt to a two-year, $4.4MM extension in October that goes into effect for the 2025-26 campaign.

Brodin’s IR placement doesn’t affect the stalwart’s return timeline. The 31-year-old has already missed three games with an upper-body injury and remains day-to-day for now. He last played on Nov. 25 against the Jets, so he can come off the injured list at any time.

In 19 games this season, Brodin has two goals and six assists for eight points with a +7 rating. His 45 blocked shots are second on the team behind Jacob Middleton’s 61.

Lauko, 24, also last suited up in the Winnipeg game last week, so his situation is pretty much the same. He’s still listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, and while he won’t play tonight, he hasn’t been ruled out for Friday’s game against the Ducks. He has two goals and two assists in 21 games for Minnesota in a fourth-line role after being acquired in an offseason swap with the Bruins.

Zuccarello underwent lower-body surgery on Nov. 14 and is expected back sometime in the next two weeks, although the move to LTIR means he won’t be back until Tuesday against Utah at the soonest.

Wild Announce Roster Moves With Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon Out

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3:30 PM : Minnesota has issued an injury update, adding that team captain Jared Spurgeon will also miss Sunday’s game with a lower-body injury. He’s been designated as day-to-day. Spurgeon has recorded one assist, four hits, and six blocks through the first two games, while averaging 19:35 in ice time.

3:00 PM : The Minnesota Wild will be without Joel Eriksson Ek in their Sunday matchup against the Winnipeg Jets, as the centerman bears through a head injury, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The team specified that the injury is a broken nose. Eriksson Ek left Minnesota’s Saturday matchup midway through the second period after taking an elbow to the face from Seattle defender Adam Larsson.

Minnesota has utilized an emergency recall on forward Travis Boyd, and sent goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to the minor leagues, in response to Eriksson Ek’s absence.

Eriksson Ek has served in a pivotal role for Minnesota in the early going, recording 20 minutes of ice time and a goal in the team’s season opener, and adding just shy of 12 minutes of ice time before leaving on Saturday. He’s been the Wild’s clear top centerman, deployed alongside the team’s leading scorer Matt Boldy. That’ll be a tough role for Minnesota to fill for even one game, though top youngster Marco Rossi could be in a prime position to step up. He’s recorded two assists on the season while operating in the middle-six, and seems to have added a strong layer to his game this summer. Rossi will compete with Ryan Hartman for the ice time opened by Eriksson Ek.

Meanwhile, Boyd will look for space in the bottom-six after recording two points in the AHL Iowa Wild’s season opener. He scored eight points in 16 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season but had his season in December by a torn pectoral muscle. Boyd had managed a pair of strong seasons with Arizona in 2021-22 and 2022-23, scoring 35 and 34 points respectively. This recall will provide his first chance to work back to that stout scoring since going down with injury.

Wild Recall Jesper Wallstedt, Reassign Daemon Hunt

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Oct. 11: After Hunt was scratched as expected for yesterday’s home opener, the team announced he’s been returned to Iowa while Wallstedt is back with the NHL club. The move indicates Chisholm will likely be ready to return tomorrow against the Kraken if needed.

Oct. 10: The Wild have recalled defenseman Daemon Hunt from AHL Iowa, per a team announcement. Hunt will serve as Minnesota’s seventh defenseman while Declan Chisholm, who’s dealing with an illness, is unavailable for tonight’s home opener. Without an open roster spot to execute the transaction, the Wild sent down goaltender Jesper Wallstedt in a corresponding move. He wasn’t expected to dress tonight anyway, with Marc-André Fleury backing up Filip Gustavsson, per Michael Russo of The Athletic.

Drafted in the third round out of WHL Moose Jaw in 2020, Hunt landed in the AHL two years ago and climbed up the depth chart to make his NHL debut last season. He’s posted 41 points (6 G, 35 A) with a -2 rating in 116 games for the Iowa Wild. While a left-shot defender, he can also comfortably log time on the right side.

A strong skater with good physicality for his 6’1″, 201-lb frame, Hunt made a strong impression in training camp after logging an assist and a -1 rating in his first 12 NHL appearances in 2023-24. He’s still waiver-exempt, though, and his level of play didn’t warrant exposing a depth piece like Chisholm or Jonathon Merrill to waivers. The 22-year-old will remain waiver-exempt throughout the season and should receive frequent call-ups whenever injuries affect the Minnesota blue line.

However, Hunt will likely have to wait a bit to make his season debut in the NHL. He’s projected to sit in the press box while Merrill and Zach Bogosian comprise the Wild’s bottom pairing.

As for Wallstedt, the Wild still thoroughly plan on having him in the NHL as part of a three-goalie rotation. Since he’s one of the few waiver-exempt names on the roster, expect him to be papered down to Iowa at other points this season if Minnesota needs an open roster spot in a pinch.

Wild Sign Jesper Wallstedt To Two-Year Extension

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The Wild announced today that they’ve signed goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to a two-year, $4.4MM extension, keeping him under contract through the 2026-27 season. It’s a one-way deal in both years with a cap hit of $2.2MM.

It’s a significant commitment to a goalie with just three NHL starts under his belt, but it’s indicative of his status as arguably the best prospect at the position in the sport. Wallstedt, who turns 22 next month, was under consideration for a top-10 pick throughout most of his draft year in 2021 but ended up falling to Minnesota at No. 20 overall.

Thus far, nothing indicates they should be unhappy with the pick. The 6’3″, 214-lb netminder has kept a rather hapless AHL Iowa team afloat during his two seasons in North America, posting a 2.69 GAA, .909 SV%, three shutouts, and a 40-34-9 record in 83 appearances as their starter. He’s been outstanding in senior-level international play as well, logging a .947 SV% in three appearances for Sweden at the 2023 World Championship.

His NHL career got off to a bit of a rocky start, allowing seven goals on 34 shots in his debut against the Stars on Jan. 10 last season. But he came back with a much more solid performance in two showings against the Blackhawks and Sharks in April, stopping 51 of 53 shots he faced in those games.

He enters 2024-25 on the Wild’s opening night roster with a 2-1-0 record and .897 SV% in his brief NHL showing. He’ll look to build on that while competing with Filip Gustavsson and 40-year-old vet Marc-André Fleury for starts in a three-goalie rotation in Minnesota. He could cement himself as the No. 2 option behind Gustavsson, with Fleury’s workload likely to stay low in his final NHL season.

Wallstedt will still be an RFA upon the expiry of his extension in 2027. He won’t be eligible to test the UFA market until 2030 at the earliest.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Liam Ohgren, Jesper Wallstedt Expected To Make Wild Roster

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Minnesota is expected to maintain top prospects Liam Ohgren and Jesper Wallstedt on their opening night roster, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Minnesota’s brass has named both players as favorites to make the team since the start of training camp.

The Wild are showing no hesitation in placing perhaps the league’s best goalie prospect – Wallstedt – into a three-man rotation with Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson. All three goaltenders made two appearances in the preseason, with Wallstedt leading the trio in save percentage with a .930 to Fleury’s .925 and Gustavsson’s .898.

Fleury and Gustavsson split starts last year, making 40 and 45 appearances respectively. Neither were particularly productive, each posting save percentages below .900 – a feat Fleury hadn’t managed since his rookie season of 2005-06. Those muddling performances leave plenty of room for excitement in Minnesota’s goaltending room – something Wallstedt may be able to bring quickly. The former first-round pick has posted two strong seasons as an AHL starter, collectively posting 40 wins and a .909 save percentage in 83 appearances.

Ohgren should have a much clearer path to an NHL role, having spent five preseason games on the team’s third-line. He certainly seemed comfortable in the role, posting one goal and one assist – the same statline he managed in his first four NHL games at the end of last season. An upper-body injury delayed the start of Ohgren’s 2023-24 to late November, but he played well immediately upon returning, ultimately recording 19 points in 27 games in Sweden’s SHL –  the highest scoring pace of any U20 SHL player last season. Wild general manager Bill Guerin has previously praised Ohgren’s ability to produce from any spot in the lineup, which could mean he’ll have to work his way up to a high-usage role – though a fully healthy season could make quick work of that challenge.

Both Ohgren and Wallstedt seem poised to bring big impacts to the Minnesota lineup – a welcome relief to the team that ranked in the bottom 15 of both goals scored and goals allowed last season. They’ll each be names to watch closely, as Ohgren fights for healthy footing and Wallstedt looks to claw above two proven NHL starters.

Snapshots: Gustavsson, Flyers, Khaira

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After re-signing Marc-Andre Fleury and indicating that they’d like Jesper Wallstedt to see more NHL action in 2024-25, it looked as if Filip Gustavsson was set to be on the move this summer.  That hasn’t happened as of yet and Joe Smith of The Athletic notes (subscription link) that it appears that Gustavsson will now be sticking around, meaning that Minnesota will be juggling three goalies at times when they want Wallstedt to get a look.  Gustavsson is coming off a tough year, one that saw him post a 3.06 GAA with a .899 SV% in 45 games after putting up 2.10 and .931 respectively in 2022-23.  The Wild’s cap situation will make it tricky to carry three goalies; GM Bill Guerin acknowledged that Wallstedt could be in a “hybrid” situation that sees him spend time with Minnesota and AHL Iowa as a result.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • The Flyers have added a pair of prospects to their upcoming rookie camp roster. Jonathan Bailey of Philly Hockey Now relays that goaltender Sam Hillebrandt and forward Josh Zakreski will join them in September.  Hillebrandt had a 3.67 GAA with a .899 SV% in 36 games last season with OHL Barrie while serving as the third goalie for Team USA at the World Juniors.  Zakreski, meanwhile, is their lone undrafted invitee from July’s development camp to move on to rookie camp so far.  He had 21 goals and 28 assists in 68 games in 2023-24 with WHL Portland.
  • Unrestricted free agent forward Jujhar Khaira was on Vancouver’s radar for the PTO slot that went to Sammy Blais earlier this week, report Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic (subscription link). The 30-year-old is a veteran of 337 career NHL games but only one of those came last season as he spent most of the season with AHL Iowa where he had 18 points in 22 games.  Drance and Dhaliwal add that the Canucks have not shown interest in Nick Cousins or Milan Lucic who are also looking for a new place to play for the upcoming season.

Morning Notes: Couturier, Stamkos, Wild Goalies

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Flyers captain Sean Couturier has made a rare early-offseason agent switch. He’s now repped by CAA Sports’ Pat Brisson, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports.

Couturier, 31, was previously represented by Sports Prospects’ Erik Lupien, whose only active NHL client is now Lightning forward Gabriel Fortier, per PuckPedia. Brisson won’t have any say in Couturier’s compensation anytime soon – he just finished the second season of an eight-year, $62MM extension that carries him through 2030. However, the change did come in short order after a season that ended poorly for the 12-year veteran, who was unexpectedly scratched by head coach John Tortorella for a pair of games in March as the Flyers were beginning to fall out of the playoff race.

Lupien did find his name in the news cycle around the time of Couturier’s scratch. He went on record to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz ahead of Couturier’s first scratch on March 19, saying there had been minimal communication between Couturier and Tortorella about the captain’s diminishing role in the lineup heading into the game. “Sean won’t learn anything by being in the bleachers tonight,” he added. “If there’s no communication of why between the two, in 2024, from my perspective, it ain’t always good to coach and establish regimental fear.”

Couturier had 11 goals, 27 assists and 38 points in 74 games this season with a career-worst -10 rating. It was the most he’s played in a single season since before the COVID-19 pandemic, as he missed most of 2021-22 and all of 2022-23 while recovering from back surgery.

Before landing Couturier as a client, Brisson already managed the highest cumulative cap hit of active contracts ($231.5MM) of any NHL agent, according to PuckPedia. Among Couturier’s Flyers teammates, he also represents defensemen Erik Johnson, Nick Seeler and Cameron York, as well as forward prospects Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo.

Other NHL news and notes to start your Tuesday:

  • Until Lightning captain Steven Stamkos puts pen to paper on an extension, the possibility remains that last night’s Game 5 loss to the Panthers was his last in a Tampa uniform. Speaking to reporters after their first-round elimination, head coach Jon Cooper spoke briefly about his future, saying he hopes there won’t be much conversation about it. “He belongs here. We know it, he knows it… I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but he feels like a Bolt for life. Only he and Julien [BriseBois] can answer that one,” he said. Stamkos, one of the top pending UFAs, said last night that the thought of playing in his final game in Tampa “never crossed my mind” as Florida increased their lead late in a 6-1 win. During training camp, Stamkos said he was disappointed in the lack of early extension talks between him and general manager BriseBois, which still haven’t occurred.
  • The Wild crease will be crowded next season with veteran Marc-André Fleury back for his final NHL season and rookie Jesper Wallstedt primed for more major-league time. That’s left many wondering where this leaves 25-year-old Filip Gustavsson, whose numbers were mediocre this season after finishing seventh in year-end positional All-Star voting in 2023. Speaking to The Athletic’s Joe Smith, GM Bill Guerin confirmed that Wallstedt “needs to get more than he got this year,” and they don’t yet have a plan in place for how they want to operate between the pipes. Carrying three goalies on the active roster isn’t an active proposition for a team with $14.7MM in dead cap space from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts next season, so if the organization decides Wallstedt is ready for a full-time tandem role with Fleury instead of just increased call-up opportunities, Gustavsson could find himself on the trade market. He has a $3.75MM cap hit through 2025-26, an attractive number for a netminder who’s still cumulatively saved 26.3 goals above average in 84 games with the Wild since 2022.

Minnesota Wild Reassign Adam Beckman, Jesper Wallstedt

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Before their last game of this season this Saturday, the Minnesota Wild have chosen to send a few of the younger players on the roster, announcing the reassignment of both forward Adam Beckman and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. The news comes in congruence with earlier reporting that forward Frederick Gaudreau would be returning to the lineup after missing some time on personal leave.

After receiving a callup with the team on March 7th, Beckman has been a full-time member of the Wild for a little over a month. Playing in 11 games over that stretch, Beckman was not utilized very heavily in Minnesota, only tallying two assists while only averaging 9:24 of ice time per game. At the AHL level, Beckman was similarly productive to his past two years in Iowa, scoring 16 goals and 29 points over 48 games this season.

Being one of the league’s top goaltending prospects, Wallstedt received his third call-up of the year to Minnesota on April 6th. Unfortunately, he was only able to participate in one game, stopping 29 of 31 shots against the San Jose Sharks in the team’s victory on April 13th.

Neither player will have much to look forward to as they return to the AHL Wild, as Iowa sits with a 25-37-4-3 record in the AHL, sitting dead last in the Central Division. With both teams in the organization set to miss the postseason, Beckman and Wallstedt will have to wait until the 2024-25 season to play in any more meaningful games.

Wild Recall Jesper Wallstedt

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It appears the availability of one of Minnesota’s netminders is in question for this afternoon as, according to the AHL’s transactions log, the Wild have recalled goaltender Jesper Wallstedt from AHL Iowa.  In a corresponding move, Iowa signed netminder Peyton Jones to a tryout agreement to replace Wallstedt on their roster.

The 21-year-old is widely considered as one of the stronger goalie prospects league-wide although his NHL debut back in January didn’t go too well as he allowed seven goals on 34 shots in a loss to Dallas.  However, Wallstedt has fared well in the minors, posting a 2.76 GAA and a .908 SV% in 43 starts at that level this season.  He has one year left after this one on his entry-level deal, one that carries an AAV of $925K.

Assuming that one of Marc-Andre Fleury or Filip Gustavsson is unavailable against Winnipeg, Wallstedt’s recall can be classified as an emergency promotion and thus not count against Minnesota’s four recall limit.  However, Wallstedt would have to be returned to the minors as soon as the emergency conditions end.

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