Filip Gustavsson has emerged as a legit Goaltender for the Wild

Coming into this season, a lot of question marks surrounded the Minnesota Wild. A majority of those questions surrounded the departure of Kevin Fiala and how they would replace his point production.

As the season started, the question changed very quickly to the goaltenders. The season did not start out kindly for Minnesota’s goaltender as Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson both got off to very slow starts.

Filip Gustavsson has emerged as a legit Goaltender for the Minnesota Wild

While Fleury’s game has picked up, Filip Gustavsson’s game has not only been good, he has been great. He currently has a .920% save percentage, with wins in seven of his last eight starts, including a shutout against Vancouver.

Early in the offseason, it seemed Minnesota would be running it back with the Goaltender tandem they had last season of Fleury and Cam Talbot. When Marc-Andre Fleury re-signed on a two-year deal, it was reported that Talbot wanted out of Minnesota.

After some tension with Minnesota GM Bill Guerin, Talbot would be traded to Ottawa for Filip Gustavsson. Gustavsson, a 2016 second-round draft pick by the Penguins, was traded to Ottawa in 2018.

After making his debut in the 2021 season, he split time between the AHL and the NHL. This season has been Gustavsson’s first as a full-timer in the NHL, and Gustavsson has been a major positive for the Minnesota Wild.

He’s quickly proven that he is a more than competent NHL goalie. Marc-Andre Fleury still has one more year on his contract, but Gustavsson will be a Restricted Free Agent at the end of this season.

With one of the most highly anticipated goalie prospects in Jesper Wallstedt knocking at the door, Minnesota will have decisions to make this offseason, but they also have an abundance of riches. We do know that if Gustavsson keeps playing like this, he will certainly have a job next season, if not in Minnesota, it will be somewhere else.