Can Jesper Wallstedt take the starting job in Minnesota?
Is there a goaltending controversy brewing in the State of Hockey?
Though things have been rough in the early going for the Minnesota Wild, a team that has been playing well below expectations, there has been a slight bump in optimism over the past weekend, thanks to a couple of solid starts from netminder Jesper Wallstedt.
With No. 1 backstop Filip Gustavsson having some woes through the first month of the season, head coach John Hynes gave the young Jesper Wallstedt both starts this past weekend for Minnesota, and the first-round draft pick stepped up. After stopping 27 of the 29 shots he faced in a win over the New York Islanders on Friday night, he went out and posted a 36-save shutout against the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
While it’s still early in the season, Wallstedt’s numbers are better than Gustavsson’s, possibly making a claim that he should be the go-to guy in Minnesota.
On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discuss whether Wallstedt has what it takes to surpass Gustavsson.
Tyler Yaremchuk: He looked really damn good. Look at his record so far this season 3-0-2 on the year. All his numbers across the board are better than Filip Gustavsson’s. On one hand, it is great to see if you’re a Minnesota fan. A young goalie…playing as well as he is. On the flip side…maybe you [should’ve waited] on backing up the truck for Gustavsson, because he’s a good-year, bad-year kind of goalie, and you had this 22-year-old Wallstedt waiting in the wings….there’s a little part of me that’s like, maybe the Minnesota Wild should have waited on signing Gustavsson.
Carter Hutton: For a team that’s struggling, I think right now you’re a little bit like, ‘Maybe if we held his feet to the fire and Wallstedt came up and was doing this, we could pressure Gustavsson.’ But what do you do now? Because it is his crease. You have him, you have to play him. I feel like it’s just something that’s going on with this team. When I look at them, it is the fact that they should be performing better. I think there’s a little more pressure now because they gave Kaprizov that money and Gustavsson that early money. So, if the young guy gets going, you got to spot him a little more starts here and see what happens.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…