The Wild are about to BREAK the NHL...
Oct 15, 2026
The Minnesota Wilds have a golden opportunity after
the beginning of the season for Jesper
Wallstedt being so good and the recent injury to Igor Shesterkin,
one name on the Minnesota
Wilds and Philip Gustafson has been in the rumor mill
for trades as of late and now with
Igor Shesterkin out for the season,
the Wilds have a very interesting option on their trade
talk.
So we're going to be breaking it down,
going over the possibility of Philip Gustafson
being traded to the New York Rangers
and where things currently stand as reports have been
swirling like crazy over the past couple of days
and folks we're gonna be breaking it all down here
in this video now before we do get into it
if you haven't already be sure to drop us up here on the
channel we have a lot of stuff coming you will
not want to miss it season is well underway this team
is off to a hot start and it's only the beginning
so everything coming out surrounding this Minnesota
Wild team we're going to have right here on the channel.
Now, I want to start off about why this
is all possible. It's because of Jesper Wallstedt.
He's been fantastic, and we knew the injury to
Philip Gustafson was going to be an option
for Jesper Wallstedt to really get things going. And
you see on the season right now, a .933 save
I mean, it's obviously only six games. There's still
lots and lots of hockey yet to play, but still,
the teams we've played, what we've seen, the numbers
that Wallstedt has shown he's on trajectory for a great season
and he's already off to a hot start
and we know that he is someone that wants
to be the goalie he wants to be the guy he wants to be
the one that the Wilds are going to trust
and with the 182 goals against the .933 save percentage
the way he's spoken about his play the way
that people are talking about him the way that
even going back to last playoff
his energy everything like that is contributing to him
at least in my opinion being that guy already you know even
though we still have Philip Gustafsson
under contract under a new contract at 6.8 million
and the way that we've seen him play he's crediting
it to everybody you see against the Vegas post game
not my best I felt like the team behind my
back and they thought I thought they played great as well
so even when Wallstedt has a phenomenal
game like he did against Vegas he's still contributing
to his team around him and we
know that really any goalie that gets put through
a game can have a very good chance of winning
with this team plus a deal that's coming makes
a lot of sense for Wallstedt to be the guy at this
point right now but it really all comes after
this Kevin Weeks threw the idea of Philip Gustafsson
into the mix for the New York Rangers now he does
the Rangers make a play for Hellebuyck for the year
Gustafsson it was as simple as this but kind
of went on to explain a couple of the options and
how they make sense but we can really break it down
as to why Philip Gustafsson really makes
the most sense out of a lot of names that have
been thrown into the mix here now you want a guy
that can win we know Philip Gustafsson can win I
think everybody knows Philip Gustafsson can win
is he a goalie that you can have
for a couple years absolutely he's under contract under a
new contract at 6.8 million a steal of a deal honestly
for what you know he can do plus you
have Igor to start it out for the he's
a very good goalie he's under contract for some time but
gives the Rangers options but it
also gives the Wild options to be able to get a lot of value in
we're going to look at that here kind of a bit
in deeper just in one second but you have to consider
as well where they currently are the Rangers with their goaltending
and Dylan Girard has been good
Start by start, you're seeing quality, quality, quality.
Tampa, Vancouver, Detroit.
Now, Tampa really did a challenge here,
but the Rangers have been off to a hot start.
But I think the biggest question is,
will Dylan Girard be able to keep this up
and be able to hold things down for an entire season?
He's a guy who hasn't played a lot of games at the NHL level
and someone that ultimately, I think,
will feel kind of the wear and tear of a full 84-game season.
And then you're even seeing Mike Sullivan say he believes
in what they're seeing from Dylan Girard.
He's been quite confident.
He knows he's very capable.
And I think that confidence is important
for a player coming into the circumstance.
He believes in himself.
I know he does.
And he also knows that we believe in him.
We think he's a very capable guy.
He felt that way a couple of weeks ago.
You see the full kind of quote coming up here as well.
But Mike Sullivan, you trust the guy,
but you've got to be real here at some.
Is he going to be someone that's capable of the entire season?
him you know he's a great goalie i think he's
a phenomenal goalie as well actually i'm not even
afraid but there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding
that i think that's a big reason as to why the
Rangers will be looking for another goalie
in different another goalie in whatever kind of
circumstance is but not someone like Connor Hellebuyck
because having Hellebuyck and
on the same roster for next season you know
that's just very very tough to be able to do it and i
mean you look right here what Elliotte Friedman said i
do believe the Rangers will try to be patient
with this and not make any quick panic move
and I think that's what really made sense because if
they were panicking they would have gone out
and made a move but the fact that they're not panicking
is a major major benefit for the Minnesota Wild
because when we look at Philip Gustafson his
estimated return date could very well be somewhere
in the November to December range we haven't
really heard much from him he was transferred to the LTIR the other day
but having him as someone
that get back into a couple games show a lot
of teams hey you know i'm still a very capable goalie
even after my injury and you know putting him
in a scenario where you're looking at Dylan Girard
20 games into the season he's that guy they're going
to need a goalie that is capable of playing
another major chunk of games
and very well could be looking for someone that can take over for the
season but it's also capable of being moved pretty easily after
that and to me that just simply
screams Philip Gustafson in a much better scenario not just for him
but also for the Rangers themselves
as I don't really care what the Rangers
do but if you're looking for a goalie that you can trust
Philip Gustafson is that because Jesper Walsh said
to me once again in my mind he's taking over and
it's still very early to be able to 100% say
with confidence that you know it's going to be the case
but all signs are pointing to that at least for me
and I want to know what you guys think about
it down below because obviously with Gustafson's new contract 6.8
or six or five years excuse me
it's a good deal you know especially looking at how
the contracts have kind of changed over this
season now we do know that goalies are going to change a bit as well
but we haven't seen it just
yet but when it does Philip Gustafson is ahead of the curve
and that will end up being that 6.8
million just perhaps one of the best goalie contracts currently
in the NHL and like I said
being able to move that, I really don't think it's
going to be much of an issue. I see that being
a very movable contract, and
good for Philip Gustafson for being able to get
paid here, but if he's a guy that also
wants to stay in one spot, it may
be a bit of trouble and a bit of an issue
when it does come down to the
contract and how valuable
in terms of movability
that can be for some NHL teams.
But you're looking at this right now
for Gustafson's availability in early November
of the estimate. Recovery remains
in question. We knew
he wouldn't wouldn't start the season was going
to be about a month on the IR was moved to the
LTIR for rehabilitation hip surgery on October 9, 5 days ago
and you're looking at an estimated
return date of early November
so whether it is maybe a road trip in Montreal around the
10th around that mark or it could be somewhere near
the middle you know we'll have to find out
because we're about two weeks three weeks away
from being able to figure out for sure when that
return date will be and you know we were around
that time as well of what the actual day could be
for that so you know we have Calvin Pickard right now as a defenseman
or as goalie excuse me that
it's certainly your backup guy will he be able
to stay as an NHL backup if we do see Gustafsson
return it doesn't seem like it
but the Wilds are good on their goaltending depth as well it's not
something they're very shy on they have a lot
of them you know going back to Bill Guerin's
running training camp on August 31st he was doing well back
then on the injury return Philip
Gustafsson was so you have to assume
that we haven't heard much from him there but it's the
same process as of right now just getting a little bit better
and better by the day the option is
there it's always going to be there
that Philip Gustafsson could be traded prior to the injury but
you know it very much more seems a lot unlike
a very unlikely it seems a lot more likely that
he will end up playing a couple games before we
do see a lot deeper trade talks but they're already
there because you know that the removal of the salary
Philip Gustafsson will help out majorly
when it comes down to fixing the cap
and you know you're looking at it right here after the move eight
million cap, that's a huge bonus even
though not a lot of players are making that anymore especially on
new contracts but knowing that you have deals coming up
in the future that you're going to need
every penny for a move like this just seems destined
at some point whether it's this month
next month maybe next season
but right now this is an opportunity where if the Wild feel like
they have someone who can give you the most value
the most bang for your buck for Philip Gustafson
it's the Rangers right now in about a month time
so it's worth exploring it's worth seeing what
the value can be and you see right now golden
opportunity verdict you have to explore the
Rangers because they're going to need
a goalie eventually will it be a you know a big name
starter like Connor Hellebuyck I really don't think
so you want to make sure that teams know that
Philip Gustafson is all the way back meaning it will
be better to get a few games under his belt
want to make sure he's on a roster where he would move
a no trade cost no move cost to be able to
play every day the Rangers classify as that as well
but you also want to make sure that you're
not putting yourselves in risk of you know needing Walsh
to take a break and being kind of left out
to drive with a backup goalie that may not be capable of doing
so so folks let me know down
below what you think about this because looking right now even
though Calvin Pickard lost his first
game wasn't the greatest game we've seen of all time
but the Wilds have a lot of options they have
a lot of goalies and you know i think that one game
from Calvin Pickard doesn't dictate season
but there's a lot to think about on this so folks give me
your thoughts on this down below you think
that Philip Gustafson is a legit option
for the Rangers i think it's right now you have to explore
if you're Bill Guerin the values there whether
it's picks players something that gives you cap
base it all matters so much so leave your thoughts down below
but that's all I have here in this
video if you did enjoy give it a like hit
the sub button as well I'm signing out thank you for
watching hope you have a great day

