The Minnesota Wild have secured the continuity of their starting goaltender, Filip Gustavsson, with a five-year, $34 million contract, as announced by General Manager Bill Guerin.
This agreement represents the second big news for the Wild this week, following the signing of star winger Kirill Kaprizov to an eight-year, $136 million contract.
Gustavsson, 27, was in the final year of his contract, with an annual salary of $3.75 million. The Swedish goaltender established himself as one of the most reliable starters in the NHL last season, playing a personal record of 58 games. His performance included a 31-19-6 record, with a 2.56 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage, earning him sixth place in the Vezina Trophy voting, securing two third-place votes.
Selected in the second round of the 2016 draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Gustavsson spent his first two years in the NHL in Ottawa before being traded to Minnesota in 2022 in exchange for veteran goaltender Cam Talbot. Initially, he shared the net with Marc-Andre Fleury in Minnesota before taking over the starting role for the Wild.
Fleury retired this summer. Jesper Wallstedt, a 2021 first-round pick, is shaping up to be Gustavsson’s backup this season.
The contract extension secures the Wild’s retention of most of their key players under 30 years old with multi-year agreements, including Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Brock Faber. Minnesota also has several players on entry-level contracts who are expected to be key contributors this season, such as Liam Ohgren, David Jiricek, and Zeev Buium.
Gustavsson’s contract comes at a time when the NHL goaltending market is considered weak by many evaluators.
Minnesota finished fourth in the Central Division last season, which once again shapes up to be the most competitive in the NHL. The Wild are looking to bounce back after their first-round elimination against the Vegas Golden Knights.
