Insider Suggests Minnesota Wild Open to Trading Promising Young Goaltender

Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin has shown firsthand — most notably by trading four high-end assets for Quinn Hughes — just how willing he is to be aggressive and swing for the fences in an effort to compete with Central Division juggernauts in Colorado and Dallas.

As soon as the Wild acquired Hughes, reports suggested Guerin was far from done and could have another big move up his sleeve. Months later, that sentiment remains, and according to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, Jesper Wallstedt could be the piece sacrificed to make it happen.

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On Monday’s episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Friedman piggybacked off a recent report from Michael Russo, suggesting Wallstedt could very well be on the move if Guerin and the Wild identify a center they truly desire.

Friedman said:

“So, Mike Russo put out Wallstedt’s name in Minnesota. And I think that Minnesota might have tried that once already. But we’ve all been wondering — we all know the Wild are going to try to get another player, probably a center. We’re all sitting there saying, what is he going to use? I think that might be the guy.”

The 23-year-old Wallstedt has gone 12-5-4 while posting a 2.70 goals-against average, a .914 save percentage, and four shutouts across 21 starts this season. He’s in year one of the two-year, $4.4 million extension signed with the Wild in 2024.

Trading Jesper Wallstedt Requires a Star Coming to Minnesota

If the Wild are truly willing to consider trading one of the brightest young goaltenders in the game, you’d have to think it would be to land a legitimate star in return. So who could that be?

When looking specifically at the center market, veteran names like Nazem Kadri, Vincent Trocheck, Brayden Schenn, Boone Jenner, and Ryan O’Reilly continue to swirl around the rumor mill. While all would be upgrades, it’s hard to believe Wallstedt would be included in a package for any of them.

A Robert Thomas, Elias Pettersson, or even Jack Hughes — a pipe dream to reunite the Hughes brothers — are more in line with the type of true No. 1 centermen in their prime, with term remaining, that the Wild could justify dangling Wallstedt for.

None of those scenarios would be easy to pull off, which means this could ultimately be pushed into the offseason. That said, when Friedman puts something like this out there, you have to keep a close eye on it.

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