The Minnesota Wild have an opportunity to continue their dominance at the top of the Western Conference on Thursday night. Before their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Wild announced a move regarding Jesper Wallstedt.
Thursday night’s game is scheduled for 6:00 PM Central Time, 7:00 PM Eastern Time. Maple Leafs fans can catch it on Sportsnet+ for streaming, as well as any Sportsnet channel on cable. As for fans in the USA, they can stream the game on ESPN+, Wild+, and MINNHL.
Minnesota Wild Reveal 23-Year-Old Move Before Toronto Maple Leafs Game
As far as roster moves go, having the Wild turn to the 23-year-old Wallstedt in net against the Maple Leafs might be the least surprising thing that they have done recently.
To break the news, Michael Russo of The Athletic took to social media.
“No Wild lineup changes. Wallstedt in net,” Russo wrote on X earlier on November 12th.
Considering Wallstedt’s performance this year, it’s virtually expected for him to be the starting goaltender for the Wild for virtually every game.
With that being said, there will be no changes to the Wild lineup. According to Last Game Lines, these are the line combinations that the Wild will likely run:
- Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy, Kirill Kaprisov
- Yakov Trenin, Danila Yurov, Maxim Shabanov
- Blake Coleman, Michael McCarron, Bobby Brink
- Nick Foligno, Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman
- Jonas Brodin, Quinn Hughes
- Jared Spurgeon, Olli Maatta
- Zach Bogosian, Matt Kiersted
Looking at Jesper Wallstedt’s Season
Wallstedt has been nothing short of spectacular for the Wild this year.
The 23-year-old is among the top goaltenders in virtually every important statistical category.
Wallstedt has a 12-2-3 record in 17 games this year. Additionally, he owns a 1.93 goals against average (GAA) and a .925 save percentage (SV%).
Among NHL goalies, he ranks first in wins, first in games played, third in GAA, and second in SV%.
Looking at other statistics, Wallstedt has been dominant in some advanced metrics. According to MoneyPuck, he leads the NHL in Goals Saved Above Expected (xGSA) with 15.9.
Additionally, 14 of his 17 games have been Quality Starts, giving him an 82.4% Quality Start (QS%) rate.
No matter how you slice it, Wallstedt has been the Wild’s best player as we close in on American Thanksgiving. And that, is something to be very thankful for.
Minnesota Wild Announce 23-Year-Old Move Before Maple Leafs Game