It's official: Jesper Wallstedt will start in goal for the Minnesota Wild Wednesday night in Dallas.
Making his NHL debut, Wallstedt could give Minnesota hockey fans a glimpse of the future as he's expected to be the Wild's No. 1 goalie in the years ahead. For now, his start could be isolated or perhaps the first of a few until Filip Gustavsson returns from injury.
Earlier this week, Wild head coach John Hynes said Gustavsson is progressing from an injury that has kept him out of the past six games. Marc-Andre Fleury will get a break Wednesday night after starting the past six games, a laboring stretch for the 39-year-old who remains tied with Patrick Roy at 551 career wins, second most in league history.
Wallstedt is one of the top goalie prospects in the NHL. He's ranked No. 3 by The Hockey Writers and No. 2 by Elite Prospects. The 21-year-old from Sweden has made 20 starts for the American Hockey League Iowa Wild this season and posted a 2.57 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage while earning two shutouts.
Minnesota selected Wallstedt 20th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Wednesday's game in Dallas is scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m.
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