Minnesota Wild Secures Filip Gustavsson with Multi-Million Dollar Extension
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 move represents the Wild’s second major transaction of the week, following the record eight-year, $136 million deal with star winger Kirill Kaprizov last Tuesday.
Gustavsson, 27, was about to finish the last year of his contract, which earned him $3.75 million annually. The Swedish goalkeeper established himself as one of the most reliable starters in the NHL last season, participating in 58 games, the most in his career. His performance included a record of 31-19-6, with an average of 2.56 goals against and a save percentage of .914, which led him to finish sixth in the Vezina Trophy voting, obtaining two votes for third place.
Gustavsson, selected in the second round of the 2016 draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins, played his first two years in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators before being traded to Minnesota in 2022 in exchange for veteran Cam Talbot. Initially, he shared the starting position in Minnesota with Marc-Andre Fleury, before becoming the Wild’s primary goaltender.
Fleury announced his retirement this summer. Jesper Wallstedt, selected in the first round of 2021, is shaping up to be Gustavsson’s backup for this season.
The contract extension implies that the Wild have secured most of their key players under 30 years old with multi-year deals, including Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Brock Faber. Minnesota also has several players with entry-level contracts who are expected to contribute significantly this season, such as Liam Ohgren, David Jiricek, and Zeev Buium.
The Gustavsson contract comes at a time when the NHL goaltending market has been described by many analysts as limited.
Minnesota finished in fourth place in the Central Division last season, which 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.
