The 20-7-4 Minnesota Wild are one of the best teams in hockey. Thankfully, they haven’t been hit by a disastrous injury yet, but that doesn’t mean the injury bug has been frozen out of St. Paul. All season (on a near-nightly basis), Minnesota’s depth chart has been a revolving door of players, thanks to the loss of mainstay talents to injury.
We’ve seen top-liners like (D) Jonas Brodin, (C) Joel Eriksson Ek, (LW) Mats Zuccarello and (D) Jared Spurgeon all miss multiple games, then return. Last week, (D) Jake Middleton was the latest to hit injured reserve. But over the weekend, the Wild have suffered a mysterious injury, in net… and it’s been mostly kept under-the-radar.
What is going on with Filip Gustavsson?
On Saturday, the Minnesota Wild recalled top goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt from Iowa, without any official announcement or unofficial report as to why they needed a third goalie. Michael Russo (The Athletic) hinted that there might be an injury in the goalie room, but didn’t even know which goalie it was, initially.
Jakub Lauko has been placed on IR, so he has to miss at least 7 days. Jesper Wallstedt has been recalled under emergency conditions, so something's up with Gustavsson or Fleury. Gustavsson did back up Fleury tonight. #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 15, 2024
We later found out it was starter Filip Gustavsson, who was evaluated for a lower-body injury on Sunday, after suffering some sort of lower-body injury in his last start, a 1-7 blowout loss vs the Edmonton Oilers.
Minnesota has played two games since Gus’ injury. Fleury started vs the Philadelphia Flyers. The Wild won 4-1. Then, Jesper Wallstedt started in net against the Vegas Golden Knights. He gave up three goals on 27 shots (24 saves), in a Wild loss. The 22-year-old former 1st round pick looked okay, but his .889 save percentage won’t be worn as a badge of honor, either.
Related: Minnesota Wild Players Relieved to Get Two Top-Line Teammates Back in Lineup
The other active goalie was the now 40-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury. Gustavsson was not active. On Wednesday night, when the Wild play vs the Florida Panthers. that’ll be the case yet again. Head coach John Hynes has already named Fleury as the starter, and Jesper Wallstedt as his backup.
So… What’s going on with Minnesota’s No. 1 goalie, Filip Gustavsson, who has started 22 games so far in 2024-25, posting an impressive .922 save percentage and 2.24 goals against average? Well… the Wild still won’t tell us.
Minnesota Wild won’t tell us…
On Tuesday, Hynes described Gustavsson’s injury as ‘minor… so far’, and that the 26-year-old former 2nd round pick was still being evaluated by the team’s medical staff. According to Hynes, this injury needs time, in order to properly diagnose…
Hynes: “Gus, he’ll be out tomorrow, but I am still waiting on a definitive timeline.”
Reporter: ‘Still minor, in your opinion? Nothing overly concerning?’
Hynes: “Correct, correct… so far, so far. That’s why I’m still waiting to hear what is going on. But he will be out tomorrow. We have to take it, today and tomorrow, and then I will probably have some more information, as each day passes. As of now it’s minor. But, there is still further evaluation for me to comment, beyond tomorrow.”
John Hynes press conference on Tuesday
Hynes went on to tell reporters that these tests are ‘just part of the normal process’, but whatever is going on with Gus Bus, the process since has been anything but normal. So… let’s just cross our fingers all day and say our prayers at night, and hope that we get good news in the next couple days.
Related: Minnesota Wild Reveal Bad News Injury Update on Jake Middleton
Losing one of the NHL’s best goalies, then handing the keys to an aging Fleury and struggling Wallstedt, could make winning a lot more difficult.