- Filip Gustavsson will undergo offseason hip surgery as soon as possible
- Wild GM Bill Guerin says Gustavsson’s training camp status is unclear until after the procedure
- Read below for what the timeline means for Jesper Wallstedt and the Wild’s crease in 2026-27
Filip Gustavsson is about to spend his summer in a hospital gown.
Wild GM Bill Guerin announced Monday at his season-ending press conference that Gustavsson will have hip surgery as soon as possible, putting the 27-year-old’s availability for the start of training camp in serious doubt. The procedure is to fix general wear and tear, not a playoff injury, and there’s no timeline yet because the team won’t know anything for sure until after the operation.
The Athletic’s Wild beat reporter Joe Smith was the first to flag the news from the presser:
Guerin was asked about his goaltending picture heading into next season and didn’t sound especially worried.
“I like our goaltending situation, to be quite honest with you. Both of our goalies are No. 1 goalies, you know? The luxury of it is being able to put a fresh rested goalie in the net every night, and you know both guys are signed. They’re both very good. They work well in a tandem.”
That’s because rookie Jesper Wallstedt grabbed the crease late in the year and never gave it back. The 23-year-old got the call in Game 1 of the first round and started 10 of 11 playoff games as Minnesota beat Dallas in six before falling to Colorado in five. Gustavsson made his only postseason appearance in a Game 2 loss at Ball Arena.
Wallstedt finished his rookie regular season 18-9-6 with a .915 save percentage and four shutouts. Gustavsson, the regular-season workhorse, went 28-15-6 with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage in 49 starts. He’s about to start the first year of a five-year, $34 million extension that runs through 2030-31, with a full no-trade clause for the first two seasons.
If recovery stretches into the fall, Wallstedt opens 2026-27 as the undisputed starter and the Wild will need to find cheap depth on the open market or via trade. Either way, Guerin’s offseason just got more complicated.
