The Minnesota Wild have signed goaltender Filip Gustavsson to a 3 year / $11.25M contract extension which will keep him with the club through the 2025-26 season. The deal sports an AAV of $3.75M, and does not include any kind of trade protection.
With the deal, the club and goaltender avoid an arbitration hearing which was previously scheduled for Friday. It’s widely expected that Gustavsson will take on a larger role with the team this year, with future HOF goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury likely shifting into a 1B role behind the 25 year old. Fleury had previously indicated in May that he was willing to take on a reduced workload, and wasn’t interested in being moved.
Acquired from the Senators in exchange for netminder Cam Talbot, Gustavsson flourished in his new surroundings posting career bests in virtually every statistical category.
In addition to his 22-9-7 record, the Swedish goaltender finished second in the NHL in GAA (2.10) and SV% (.931), while also setting a career best shutout streak of 177 minutes and 13 seconds. Gustavsson also set a new Wild playoff record with 51 saves in the team’s double-overtime win vs. Dallas.
Originally drafted 55th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016, Gustavsson has seen action in the Swedish Jr leagues, SweHL, Swe-1 division, ECHL, and AHL in his journey to becoming an everyday NHL goaltender. His circuitous development path, and shared nationality will likely help to mentor top goaltending prospect Jesper Wallstedt whom the Wild selected 20th over in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Wallstedt, 20, is expected to spend one more year in Iowa with the club’s AHL team, before making the full time jump to the NHL in 2024-25. Soon to be 39 year old Marc-Andre Fleury currently has 1 year remaining on his contract after signing a 2 year extension back in 2022.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: amccoy012. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.