NHL Rumors: Wild Reveal Asking Price In a Jesper Wallstedt Trade

Tuesday, February 10, 2026 ,
Minnesota Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt celebrates after win during 2026 game.

The Minnesota Wild didn’t pay a king’s ransom for Quinn Hughes just to sit back and admire the view. 

Since that blockbuster, they’ve looked like a real problem in the West, and with a Central Division arms race staring them down, Bill Guerin is going to keep shopping for a true difference-maker down the middle. 

That is why the Jesper Wallstedt trade noise is slowly starting to gain more steam, and if the Florida Panthers ever got serious about it, the Wild would be looking for a player like Anton Lundell, according to Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff.

Minnesota Wild would target Anton Lundell in Wallstedt talks

If the Wild move Wallstedt, it's because they believe they can flip a premium goalie asset into the kind of young center every contender needs. 

Lundell checks the exact boxes Minnesota would want: he is only 24, he plays a mature two-way game, and he comes with cost certainty at $5 million AAV through 2030. 

He has also built a legit NHL resume already, with 76 goals and 197 points in 349 career games, and he just posted 17 goals and 45 points in 79 games last season while often getting buried in a matchup role behind established names. Not to mention, he's also a back-to-back Stanley Cup winner.

He's on track to smash his career highs in both goals and points set last year, as he already has 16 goals and 40 points this year through 54 games. Minnesota’s all-in right now, and they need a center who can keep up with the heavyweights in the West. 

Florida Panthers motive is the future in net

From Florida’s side, the appeal is obvious because Sergei Bobrovsky is a looming question, having a terrible season (.871 SV%), and the Panthers need a succession plan. 

Wallstedt was a 2021 first-round pick, and Minnesota can afford to listen because Filip Gustavsson is locked in long-term, which gives the Wild flexibility if the return is right. 

This does feel like the kind of thing that waits for the summer, when Florida can fully assess its crease, and Minnesota can take a bigger swing at tweaking its roster even more.

Regardless, the more Bobrovsky continues to struggle leading into his free agency this summer, and the fact that a true No. 1 goalie doesn't come around often, the Panthers seriously have something to consider here.

Photo Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images 

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