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The Minnesota Wild are open to trading emerging star goaltender Jesper Wallstedt if the right deal comes along. The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman have echoed this over the past few days.
Michael Russo reported the possibility, and he indicated that the right deal would have to meet the Wild’s needs of a player with the ceiling or immediately able to fill the number one center role in the organization.
It goes without saying that the Minnesota Wild are aggressive in their approach to acquire a top-six center and make another big splash this season, trade-wise.
Wallstedt is having an excellent season in Minnesota, no doubt, and in the breakout season he’s having, he’s a great possibility for a buy-low, sell-high scenario. That’s also assuming the Wild are able to facilitate any trade.
As Chris and I talked about on the latest Inside The Rink podcast, if teams are able to meet the price, it’s a buyer’s market, and the Wild are buying what teams might be selling. He’s got a $2.2 million cap hit until the end of next season, and he’s emerging as a starting goaltender.
Buffalo is a team that I immediately think of, given they’re a little thin in net and not having a true number one goaltender right now, but that’s dependent on whether they’re willing to meet Minnesota’s asks.
On the other side of things, Filip Gustavsson has been a great primary option for Minnesota, and it would be a mistake if the Wild traded him.
Chris and I had talked about it earlier in the season, around November, I believe that Minnesota has a wonderful 1A/1B scenario, but this report now gives me the sense they’re looking at upgrading by utilizing the assets they do have to better position themselves long-term.
It’s not a knock on Wallstedt; he’ll fetch a decent return, and as I said before, if teams are willing to pay up, it’s a buyer’s market, but now it entirely depends on who’s buying.
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Conrad Jack is a Manitoba based sportswriter covering the Winnipeg Jets (NHL) and the Manitoba Moose (AHL). He also covers the NHL Draft and World Junior Championship for ITR. He occasionally covers league wide news for Inside The Rink.