Wild notes: Kuemper must be ready, will get most of the work in Iowa

Goalies Darcy Kuemper and Johan Gustafsson were two of the 18 players assigned to the Iowa Wild on Tuesday, and now it'll be interesting to see how coach Kurt Kleinendorst divides up the ice time.

There's only one net.

As always when an organization has two up-and-coming minor league netminders, it's difficult to balance riding the No. 3 goalie (Kuemper) with the potential of No. 4 (Gustafsson) getting stale.

Kleinendorst says he has had preliminary talks with Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher, Iowa GM Jim Mill and goalie coach Bob Mason. The objective, he says, is making sure Kuemper is always ready to step into Minnesota's lineup if Niklas Backstrom or Josh Harding are hurt.

"We always know No. 3 has to be ready," Kleinendorst said. "So No. 3 ultimately has to be ready for the call, which means No. 4 is going to have to develop but in a more patient manner.

"Once we get into the meat of the season, it won't be so difficult because you're playing so many games. But when the schedule is light like ours is early, it's more of a challenge."

As of now, both Kuemper, 23, the Canadian Hockey League Goalie of the Year in 2011, and Gustafsson, 21, Sweden's goalie when it won gold at the 2012 world junior championships and the 2012 Swedish Elite League Rookie of the Year, will split time in Iowa.

"Kuemps has to play. We all know that," coach Mike Yeo said.

Kuemper got in six games for the Wild last season, going 1-2 with a 2.08 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. In 47 minutes this preseason, Kuemper was perfect in two games, stopping all 18 shots he saw.

There are 25 stalls in the Wild's locker room, one too few to accommodate everyone still on the Wild's training-camp roster.

Being the 19-year-old rookie, defenseman Matt Dumba has been given a temporary stall with a folding chair right between veterans Backstrom and Dany Heatley.

"[Backstrom] and Heater gave me the boundaries. I'm confined to a little cube," Dumba said, smiling.

He said he feels a lot more comfortable now than after last year's condensed weeklong camp.

"Last year was bang-bang. Everything happened so quick," Dumba said.

"Training camp just flew by in one week. It's nice to get the feel of things [this year]. I went through [the rookie tournament in] Traverse City, and I think it has really helped me.

"I've learned a lot the last couple weeks and hopefully I can apply that to the game."

• Captain Mikko Koivu played Wednesday after the birth of his first child. Koivu's fiancée, Helena, gave birth to a girl, named Sofie Elizabeth.

• Jonathon Blum, Brian Connelly, Steve Kampfer, Jon Landry, Carson McMillan, Chad Rau and Stephane Veilleux all cleared waivers Wednesday and were assigned to Iowa.

• The Wild will travel to Duluth for practices Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday's 10 a.m. practice at AMSOIL Arena is open to the public.