John Buccigross and Frank Seravalli discussed the upcoming contract extension for goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, a pending restricted free agent, on Frankly Hockey. What will the number be, and will they have to decide on a goalie later?
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John Buccigross: “The Wall of Saint Paul. What will Wallstedt cost? Jesper turns 24 next month in November. Off to a great start, Frank, 4-1 and 1.82 goals against, 933 save percentage. There it is. Thanks, Jared. RFA after this year; UFA in 2030. So you’d think this would be a seven-year deal, and it’s interesting to see what the goalie market is now. I assumed originally he might be around that $9 million (Jeremy) Swayman mark is probably what he would have gotten, but now is it $10 million or 11 million?”
Frank Seravalli: “Either way, it’s going to be expensive. Our friends at AFP Analytics kind of have that ballpark of if it’s five years, they have him at $8 million. And the point of the story is, as Jesper Wallstedt is really getting going here in his NHL career. The record, the league record in the salary cap era for a second contract for a goalie belongs to Igor Shesterkin.
He was at $5.6 million. So Wallstedt is gonna blow Shesterkin’s number out of the water. There’s no doubt about that. The question is how all of this will mesh with a team that has Kirill Kaprizov at $17 million and is trying to sign Quinn Hughes at $20 million. Let’s just call it, we’ll put a ballpark around that.
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And then if you bring in Wallstedt five times $8 million, or as you said, seven times $10 million, whatever it is, is going to be very expensive. Well, you’ve got Filip Gustavsson, who’s only in the first year of his deal, and he’s at $6.8 million.
So, let’s just call it $8 million. $8 million plus $6.8 million is $14.8 million. Can they afford to spend that much on goaltending? It’s kind of a good problem to have if you’re the Wild because you know that you’re taken care of either way, and you could always trade one.
But the moral of the story is, Jesper Wallstedt is going to be very expensive. Leading the league in minutes. Great save percentage this year leads the league in goals saved above average. Like all the real statistics and metrics you look at, Wallstedt has been that good.
Buccigross: “Yeah, I think trading Gustavsson would be, that would be the play. He signed through 2031, but that would probably be the play. Obviously, the Rangers once they gave Shesterkin the big number in the old cap, where we’re around $12 million-$13 million total. So $16 million in the new cap, probably not terrible. You could do it.
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You’d rather have a $3 million guy probably than a $6.8 million guy, practically $7 million. But yeah, I would think they would look to flip him, get an asset, and play a goalie two to three, then you get a $4 million player as a third-liner or a second- or third-pair D.
So that’s what I would think Billy Guerin would look to do. But yeah, I’m thinking if I’m Wallstedt, take this. You never know. You saw the injury to Shesterkin, man. Take that seven years. If they offer, if it’s 7x$10 million, I would sign it.”
Seravalli: “Yeah, I think with especially how fickle the position is, you never know. Sometimes what’s down is up. Maybe the wild won’t want to go that long because of the position. But he looks like a stud at 23 years of age, still for another month. That’s a true number one right there.”
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