Minnesota Has Trade Piece To Swing For Another Elite Player

The Minnesota Wild are not done adding this season. They are tied for second in the NHL, already traded a large piece of their future for Quinn Hughes, and are in win now mode.

When discussing Jesper Wallstedt, Elliotte Friedman said, "If you're all in to win and you've got Filip Gustavsson signed...what someone said to me was, if it happens, you'll understand why." This is a big hint at a major addition and a large portion of the price to acquire them being Wallstedt, a 23-year-old goalie who is 13-5-4 with a 2.71 GAA, .914 SV%, and four shutouts.

Over the last two weeks, Wallstedt has only started four games and has struggled though. He has one win and has allowed 18 goals against. It should be seen as a tough stretch and shouldn't impact his trade value at all, but has cleared things up a bit in net for the Wild, giving them the ability to trade him as Gustavsson is playing well and is the starter.

Gustavsson is signed for five more years at $6.8 million AAV. He has proven his ability and earned that contract as the starter, so it doesn't make a ton of sense for the Wild to also keep Wallstedt around, limiting his starts for five more years when he's just about ready for a starter role. It is a similar situation to Yaroslav Askarov and the Nashville Predators as Juuse Saros was signed for too long without room for Askarov to grow. The difference is the Wild are going to get more for Wallstedt and are using him as a tool to land someone big.

While someone like Artemi Panarin with a contract extension would make sense for the Wild, the New York Rangers already have Igor Shesterkin, so it doesn't make sense on their end. But in the case of the Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, or St. Louis Blues, those are places that make more sense. We'll have to wait and see what becomes of Wallstedt this season, but he won't be moving without a major piece coming back, likely at forward.