Who is Filip Gustavsson? Is there going to be a possible back-up goalie controversy in Minnesota?

 

When Cam Talbot was traded to the Ottawa Senators back in July, I wasn’t exactly surprised that happened. However, when it was announced the Wild were getting goalie Filip Gustavsson in return. My first thought was “who is he?”

To be honest with you, I never really heard of Gustavsson until he was traded. So, who is Filip Gustavsson?

Well, he’s a 24-year-old Skelleftea, Sweden native who split time between Ottawa and their AHL affiliate Belleville. Last season with Ottawa in 18 games, Gustavsson posted a 5-12-1 record to go along with a 3.55 GAA and .892 save percentage. He also appeared in 20 games in Belleville, going 11-6-1 with a 2.50 GAA, .915 save percentage, and 2 shutouts. He’s a former second round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016) and also spent time with the Swedish Junior National team (2016 bronze medal 2016 IIHF World Under-18 and 2018 silver medal 2018 IIHF World Juniors).

Filip Gustavsson during a preseason game

I will admit that I didn’t get to see Gustavsson when he was in net when the Senators came to town last season. In that game, So, my first chance to see him in net was when the Wild faced the Blackhawks on Thursday (October 6).  In my opinion, he looked good in net. He stopped 25 out of 26 shots. The one goal he let in would be considered a softy, otherwise he was solid in the net for the Wild.

When the puck drops for real on October 13, Gustavsson will be the #2 goalie behind Marc-Andre Fleury.

Now, the question is how long do you keep Jesper Wallstedt in Iowa? First, Wild GM Bill Guerin has said he’s not going to rush the teenage goalie’s development. I think that’s a smart move for now as he gets adjusted to the North American rinks. Even Wallstedt knows this is going to be an adjustment as he gets used to the rinks here. He even stated so in a recent quote after a Wild practice:

“The angles are different here from back home, on the smaller ice. But I think I just have to keep improving my speed and my lateral movements on the ice and on my feet and become faster every day. Just try to improve the reading for the game and try to see plays happen before they do.”

It’s a smart move on Guerin’s part to have Wallstedt be down in Iowa, considering that he’s only 19 (he’ll turn 20 in November) and this is going to be his first season here in North America. He’ll split time in Iowa with former University of North Dakota goalie Zane McIntyre, who signed with the Iowa Wild in January.

Jesper Wallstedt during training camp
with the Minnesota Wild

As far as a back-up goalie controversy? I really don’t see one. If Fleury or Gustavsson were to get injured (hopefully that does NOT happen), the next to be called up to the Wild would probably be Zane McIntyre. McIntyre’s last appearance in the NHL came with the Boston Bruins back during the 2016-17 season where he appeared in at least eight games.

I believe the Wild are going to give Wallstedt at least a full year in Iowa and let him develop. He very well could end up being in a Minnesota Wild uniform full time next year—depending how Gustavsson plays this year, with this being a contract year for him.

Filip Gustavsson is the #2 goalie for at least this year.

Sources:

Wild’s Jesper Wallstedt impressing in first camp, but don’t expect a fast track (Michael Russo, The Athletic, Sept. 27, 2002)

Jesper Wallstedt

Does Victor Rask have a future with the Minnesota Wild?

 

Ever since Victor Rask was traded to the Wild in January 2019 in exchange for Nino Niederreiter, Rask has been either on the fourth line or a healthy scratch. In 66 games with the Wild, Rask has only racked up 7 goals and 9 assists (16 points).

Remember, Paul Fenton was the Wild’s general manager at the time the trade was made. This particular trade is looking to be one of the worst trades in the history of the Minnesota Wild. The question here is saving $1.25 million on the cap worth it (Niederreiter’s salary was $5.25 million/year). Fenton traded for a player who missed significant time (including training camp) before the trade was made due to having surgery on his hand after he sliced part of his hand in a kitchen incident. There were rumors that Fenton didn’t even send a scout to watch Rask play in person nor did Fenton even talk with Eric Staal, who played with Rask in Carolina for two seasons. In addition to the rumors about Fenton not scouting Rask, there were rumblings that the Hurricanes were going to buy Rask out of his contract before the trade.

What was Paul Fenton’s thinking on that—to trade for a player without doing any scouting? (This trade was among the list of reasons why Fenton was eventually fired after the 2018-19 season). There really hasn’t been much value to having Rask on the roster.

Rask is not that impressive of a player. As previously stated, he’s only appeared in 66 games with the Wild so far and has only racked up 16 points (7 goals and 9 assists). He’s not that great of a skater—which has been evident when watching him play. If you look at his career stats, he’s a career -27 (405 career games with 70 goals and 109 assists). For the Wild, this trade has basically been a bust.

Where does Rask fit into the Wild line up? Or does he? As of the time I was writing this article, the Wild currently have six centers (including Rask). With the additions of Nick Bonino, Nick Bjugstad, and Marcus Johansson, along with Joel Ericsson Ek and Nico Strum already on the roster. Rask isn’t close to being a top center-which the Wild desperately need. In my opinion (and I am not a coach or general manager at all), there should be some effort to move Rask. I don’t believe the current NHL CBA allows for restructuring of contracts.

What are the options with Victor Rask at this point?

• Buy out the remaining two years of his contract. This is one option; however, it’s a costly one. Rask has two years remaining on a 6-year, $24 million contract he signed after the 2015-16 season (when Ron Francis was the GM of the Hurricanes). The trade to the Wild also occurred before his trade clause went into effect, which the Wild are not honoring. Right now, Rask has a cap hit of $4 million for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. IF the Wild were to buy out those two remaining years, Rask would have a cap hit of $1.33 million through the 2023-24 season.  Would the Wild be able to afford that cap hit to free up a roster spot?

• Trade Rask. This could be considered a daunting task, considering Rask’s salary and lack of offensive production throughout his NHL career (405 career games with 70 goals and 109 assists). Can the Wild find a willing trade partner or is there a possibility that Rask would have to be part of a trade package? How much salary is the Wild going to have to retain? It’s going to be interesting to see if (current) Wild GM Bill Guerin can pull off trading Rask.

• Keep Rask until his contract expires. Are the Wild willing do that, especially at $4 million a year for the next two seasons? Right now, he’s still on the roster. But where does he fit in with the Wild having a total of six centers on their roster? Rask is not one of those players who can be moved over to a wing spot and depending on other factors, he could be spending a lot of time in the press box as a healthy scratch-albeit an expensive one. 

Time will tell what happens with Victor Rask and the Minnesota Wild. One thing is for certain is that the Wild should try to find a way to move on from this bad trade and cut their losses in a way that will help the Wild.

Sources:

https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/the-ugly-shocking-details-of-fenton-s-firing-in-minnesota 

1.    https://thehockeywriters.com/hurricanes-wild-niederreiter-rask-trade-revisited/

https://zonecoverage.com/2020/wild/revisiting-paul-fentons-2019-trades/

https://www.nhl.com/player/victor-rask-8476437

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wild sign goalie Cam Talbot to 3 year deal

 

Cam Talbot became the Wild’s starting goalie on October 9^th when he signed a 3 year, $11 million contract. He’ll be taking over the starting role after Wild GM Bill Guerin traded Devan Dubnyk to the San Jose Sharks. (Talbot’s contract does not contain a no-trade or no-move clause).

 Talbot was one of a number of goalies on the free agency market—including Braden Holtby (signed with Vancouver), Jacob Markstrom (signed with Calgary—Talbot’s old team), Thomas Greiss (signed with Detroit on October 10^th), Anton Khudobin (re-signed with Dallas), and Henrik Lundqvist (signed with Washington).

 Guerin stated he was disappointed with the goaltending after the Wild’s season ended and that a change was needed. He confirmed the statement about a change was needed when he traded Dubnyk to the Sharks earlier in the week. (Previously stated here).

 

Talbot, who is 33-years-old, comes to the Wild with a career 150-122-25 record (314 regular season games) with a 2.61 GAA, .919 SV%, and 22 shutouts. In the playoffs last season, Talbot’s record was 5-4-0 (10 games) with a 2.42 GAA, .924 SV%, and 2 shutouts with the Calgary Flames. Along with spending this past season with the Flames, Talbot has had stints with the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers (where he had a 42 win game season in 2016-17 and was named to the All-Star game that season), and the Philadelphia Flyers. 

 Talbot said the following after having signed with the Wild:

           

“I kind of bet on myself with that one-year deal…I knew that people had kind of written me off, but I wasn’t done yet. And I knew that I could still play at a high level. So it’s very rewarding that I was able to prove that and to get this opportunity to play in the great city and great building like Minnesota, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity.” (theathletic.com)

 

Talbot joining the Wild gives the team a starting goalie with Stalock as back up. With having Talbot in the net, this also gives Kaapo Kankonen (who has filed for arbitration as an RFA) more time to develop to eventually become the starting goalie with the Wild, along with Hunter Jones. Guerin had this to say about signing Talbot and what it means for Kankonen:

 

“I think it buys us more time with Kahkonen…The last thing we want to do is rush him along. I’m not saying he can’t play or won’t play. That’s not the case, but we’re not forced to do anything. I think that’s really important when it comes to the development of a goalie.” (theathletic.com)

 

However, there is the expansion draft coming up after the 2020-21 season. Minnesota is only going to be able to protect one of their goalies (Hunter Jones is exempt). If Kahkonen gets an extended opportunity to play with the Wild this upcoming season and plays well, it could mean some tough decisions for Guerin regarding goaltending and which goalie is going to be protected.

 It will be very interesting to see how Talbot does with the Wild, knowing that this is his third team in three years and with Kankonen patiently waiting in the wings…

Sources:

Michael Russo, The Athletic. https://theathletic.com/2127528/2020/10/09/cam-talbot-wild-signs-free-agent-goalie/

https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/talbot-signs-with-wild-100920/c-319408248

https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2020/10/10/21509597/minnesota-wild-nhl-cam-talbot-free-agency-signing-analysis

What should the Wild address this offseason between the draft and free agency?

 

Since my last post and writing this article, it was confirmed by the Wild that Mikko Koivu’s time with the Wild are done and he will not be re-signed to another contract.

.Bill Guerin has a lot to deal with in his first full offseason as General Manager. In the twelve months that Guerin has been in the role, he’s already made some changes—i.e. firing Bruce Boudreau and trading Jason Zucker to the Penguins. 

The Wild have two big needs that Guerin needs to address this offseason. The first is the fact the Wild have not had a true first line center in quite some time (or for as long as the team has been in existence).  It’s been confirmed the Wild are moving on from Mikko Koivu, with the additions of Nick Bjugstad and Marcus Johansson (who is going to be tried at center this coming season, even though he’s listed as a left wing). There are questions about Nick Bjugstad going to be healthy for the upcoming season, as he’s coming off of back surgery. With both Koivu and Staal both gone from the Wild, there is a big hole at center. Joel Eriksson-Ek and Luke Kunin have both spent time at center for the Wild. Nico Strum is another name being tossed around to be in at center (he’s split time this past season between Iowa and Minnesota). Alex Galchenyuk has also spent time at center, but he’s a free agent and whether or not he’s going to re-sign with the Wild remains to be seen. Galchenyuk is also coming off one of the worst seasons of his career (2018-19 when he was with Arizona before he was traded to Pittsburgh as part of the Phil Kessel deal).  What Guerin does regarding this need will be interesting in both the upcoming draft and free agency that will taking place in October.

The second big need the Wild need to address is goaltending. It’s no secret that Devan Dubnyk is coming off a pretty rough 2019-20 season that saw him missing a month due to a medical emergency with his wife, missing some time in January due to the medical situation with his wife, and eventually losing the starting goalie role to Alex Stalock. In the 30 games he was in last season, he went 12-15-2 with a 3.35 GAA and .890 SV%. He didn’t start any of the games in the qualifying round against Vancouver when play resumed in August. He is entering the final year of his 6 year, $21 million contract that he signed after the 2014-15 season. That was the season where he won the Masterton Trophy and was a finalist for the Vezina trophy. Guerin made the following statement during his season wrap up:

“I was disappointed in the goaltending this year…Al (Stalock) had a tremendous year and Devan (Dubnyk) had an off year and it needs to be better. That’s just the way it is. If I told you anything different, I’d be lying to you. It was not a strong point for us.” (Judd Zuglad, Skor North, 8/10/2020)  

How the goaltending situation is going to be addressed is going to be interesting. Does Guerin stick with the Dubnyk-Stalock tandom in this up-coming season, hoping Dubnyk can rebound off of a bad year? How does Kaapo Kahkonen fit into the goalie equation? Kahkonen is coming off of a season with the Iowa Wild having won 25 games (7 of those being shutouts) with a 2.07 GAA and a .927 SV%--which was good enough for him to be named the AHL Goalie of the Year. 

There are some big goalie names who are going to be free agents come October—Braden Holtby (Capitals), Thomas Greiss (Islanders), Anton Khudobin (Stars, and who was with the Wild), and Cam Talbot (Flames), just to name a few. Along with the upcoming draft, Guerin has to seriously look at the options out there. Could Dubnyk be traded? That is a possibility, along with possibly the Wild buying out the final year of his contract.

It is going to be an interesting off-season for Guerin and from the looks of it, Wild owner Craig Leopold is giving Guerin the go-ahead to make the moves Guerin thinks is necessary to get the Wild to eventually become a contender.

 

Upcoming Dates:

NHL Draft: Round 1 will take place on October 6, Rounds 2-7 will take place on October 7.

Free Agency: NHL Free Agency will open at 12 PM ET on October 9.

Tentative Start of the 2020-21 season: December 2020

Sources:

Michael Russo, The Athletic. https://theathletic.com/2019645/2020/08/24/examining-the-wilds-options-what-to-do-about-a-complicated-goalie-situation/ (8/24/2020)

Judd Zulgad, Skor North, https://www.skornorth.com/2020/08/pulling-no-punches-wild-gm-bill-guerin-makes-it-clear-that-goaltending-changes-are-on-the-way/ (8/10/2020)

Is Mikko Koivu’s career finished in Minnesota?

 **Update** 

After I posted the original article, the Wild are expected to move on from Mikko Koivu. According to an article by The Athletic's Michael Russo (link to here), Koivu was informed during his end of the season exit meeting with GM Bill Guerin. Russo stated Koivu has been informing those closest to him that his playing days with the Wild are over. 

With the 2019-2020 season over for the Minnesota Wild after they didn’t make it past the round-robin play in and into the Stanley Cup playoffs, there are questions about the roster and what moves is General Manager Bill Guerin going to make in the off season. 

One of the big questions this off-season is whether or not Mikko Koivu’s career as a member of the Wild is over. Koivu turned 37 back on March 12.

Koivu’s career with the Wild started in the 2005-06 season. He was drafted in the first round by the team in 2001 (sixth overall). After fifteen seasons, Koivu is the team leader in the following categories (information courtesy of wild.com):

• NHL games played (1,028--all played with the Minnesota Wild)
• Points (729)
• Assists (704)
• Plus/Minus (+70)
• Shots (2,270)

Koivu is second all time in goals scored (205) and power play goals (60). He is the only permanent captain in team history (he was named captain on October 20, 2009).He is also the first in franchise history to have played 1000 career NHL games and with the same team.

Now, with the 2019-2020 season over, Koivu’s contract with the Wild has now ended. He is basically a free agent (even though free agency won’t begin until October 9). Whether or not Koivu returns for another season in a Wild sweater also depends on what Wild GM Bill Guerin is able to with free agency (this will be Guerin’s first full offseason as GM). 

If Koivu re-signs with the team, what would his role be? According to Michael Russo from The Athletic, Koivu would more than likely playing center on the fourth line with probably no power play time. It was a role that he transitioned to during the second half of the season and remained in during the playoffs.

Depending on free-agency at this point, what are the possibilities for Koivu? The first possibility is that Koivu re-signs with the Wild in a short term deal that is team-friendly so that he could retire as a member of the Wild. He didn’t waive his no-trade clause at the trade deadline so he could remain with the team. The other possibility is that he may have some options if he decides to pursue free agency or sign with his hometown team TPS Turku in the Finnish Elite League.

What the future brings for Mikko Koivu remains to be seen. Koivu still needs to meet with Guerin and he does need some time to think about his future. 

Sources:

Michael Russo, The Athletic (8/9/2020) https://theathletic.com/1984520/2020/08/09/mikko-koivu-wild-retirement-was-that-it-captain/

https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2020/3/16/21180704/minnesota-wild-mikko-koivu-retirement-new-contract-speculation-covid-19-coronavirus

Michael Russo, The Athletic (9/9/2020) https://theathletic.com/2052864/2020/09/09/wild-offseason-update-mikko-koivu-contract-future-trade-buyout-options/