Jesper Wallstedt, Wild goalie of the future, opens up about his ‘all-time low’ in the minors

Jesper Wallstedt was in Rockford, Ill., preparing to play for Iowa on Saturday when suddenly his start was scrapped.

He was getting promoted to the NHL and would be in the Wild’s net Sunday instead to face Vegas.

“Out of nowhere I’m [in] a car service toward Chicago,” Wallstedt said.

But Wallstedt’s entire season, not just his first game of 2024-25 with the Wild, has been a change of plans.

Initially expected to be part of a three-goalie rotation with Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury, Wallstedt was with the team after a strong training camp and looked ready for an apprenticeship before the franchise’s goalie of the future graduated to a full-time role.

The Wild made it clear they intended to get Wallstedt more NHL reps, but injuries amid a salary-cap pinch led to Wallstedt’s demotion to the minors and kept him there — a curveball that affected his psyche. The 22-year-old has been working on repairing his outlook after his struggles on the ice made the funk he was feeling fester.

“I’ve been speaking with a lot of sports psychologists to try to get my mind back and in the right spot,” Wallstedt said after making 24 saves in the Wild’s 3-2 loss to the Golden Knights at Xcel Energy Center. “Obviously, when you’re on an all-time low, it feels like there’s no way out, and you keep asking yourself what you’re doing. But I was always trusting my game. I felt like my game was in the right spot. I knew I made the team out of camp. I knew there was something that there was to build from, but it was all in my head.

“My head wasn’t in the right spot.”

A lower-body injury to Gustavsson that isn’t believed to be too serious returned Wallstedt to the Wild after an injury concern got him assigned to Iowa before the third game of the season.

The team sent him down and added Travis Boyd under emergency conditions on Oct. 13 ahead of playing Winnipeg because Marcus Johansson was questionable. The Wild continued to battle injuries, Gustavsson has been stellar and Fleury steady, too, so Wallstedt stayed with Iowa until Saturday’s call-up.

In the American Hockey League, he dropped his first four games, giving up 18 goals in three regulation losses and one overtime defeat. Wallstedt rebounded with a pair of wins but was inconsistent the rest of November before getting a weekend off from games to reset with practice time.

“Why am I not saving a puck in games? Why am I giving up seven goals? Why am I giving up eight goals?” he said. “It was just like I couldn’t save a puck. It was like I hadn’t played hockey before. It didn’t feel like my game was wrong, but it felt like my head wasn’t there and then I’m the one that gives myself the hardest criticism.

“So, I think I was just pushing myself down the rabbit hole.”

Wallstedt became hyperfocused on hockey, even away from the rink.

He was overthinking, and he knew he wasn’t in the right head space. But the situation was difficult: Stopping pucks is his livelihood and what he’s done since he was a kid, and Wallstedt thought he’d forgotten how to do that.

“I was so lost in my own mind and my own game, where I was at in my own thoughts,” he said.

Since he didn’t have an answer for how to reset, he relied on those around him. He found help by “getting back to the basics.”

“Trusting your game, knowing you’re here for a reason, knowing that you can do it,” Wallstedt explained. “But also just like small keywords during [the] game. Think about your breathing. Think about just [the] next puck. Think about try to pick up the spin on the puck when they’re shooting. Just small stuff that can make you just clean your head and focus on [the] puck.”

Before Sunday’s game, Wallstedt won two in a row for Iowa, including a 23-save shutout vs. Rockford last Wednesday.

Wild goaltending coach Frederic Chabot was on hand for that start, with Chabot leaving the Wild’s road trip early to spend time with Wallstedt. Overall, Wallstedt is 5-6-1 for Iowa with a 3.77 goals-against average and .874 save percentage.

“I haven’t performed to the standards that I want to be at,” Wallstedt said. “The start I had in Iowa wasn’t proving that I belonged here at that time. But last couple weeks have felt way better.”

Wallstedt, who was drafted in the first round 20th overall in 2021, tweaked small details in his game, and he was competitive vs. the Golden Knights in only his fourth NHL appearance and first at Xcel Energy Center.

Last season, he was overwhelmed 7-1 by Dallas in his NHL debut but bounced back with a 24-save shutout vs. Chicago and another win over San Jose in which he allowed only two goals. Wallstedt signed a two-year, $4.4 million contract extension before this season.

“He gave us a chance to win the game [Sunday], which is good to see,” coach John Hynes said. “Now it just continues the process of helping a younger guy who’s got immense talent, who’s a big part of the future, just work through it. A lot of times when you go through some adversity, when you go through certain things like this, it does make you better.”

Considering the Wild don’t have much financial flexibility and they’re still dealing with injuries, Wallstedt’s stint isn’t likely to be permanent, but he’s hoping to keep developing while he’s here.

He won’t forget his lull earlier this season, but he’s also focusing on what’s to come.

“I’m just going to look forward and look towards the future,” Wallstedt said, “and make sure I’ve improved from that and learned something that I can keep with me for my whole career.”