Jesper Wallstedt's Wild Journey to Becoming an NHL Star

Wallstedt Steals the Spotlight

Rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt has been nothing short of phenomenal. Right now, he leads the NHL in goals-against average (1.96), save percentage (.936), and shutouts (4). Those numbers are absurd on their own. The context makes them even louder.

To put his dominance into perspective, analyst Dimitri Filipovic shared a stat a while back that Wallstedt’s four shutouts in a six-start stretch accounted for more than 10% of all NHL shutouts at that point in the season

And the competition wasn’t soft either. Wallstedt shut out the Oilers, Jets, and Ducks, and had a 36-save masterclass against the Flames. In the process, he became the first rookie goalie since 1938 to record four shutouts in six games. He also joined a historic list as just the seventh goalie since 1929–30 to reach five shutouts by his 10th career win — the first to do it in over 61 years.

From Rock Bottom to the NHL’s Best

What makes Wallstedt’s rise even more impressive is how close he was to being written off. Drafted 20th overall in the first round — a rare investment for a goaltender — expectations were massive, but weren’t met right away.

On Nov. 29, 2024, Wallstedt was sent to Iowa due to salary cap constraints. Instead of being part of a three-goalie rotating with the Wild, he was stuck in the AHL, posting a 3–6–1 record with an .860 save percentage and a 4.34 GAA. The word “bust” started circulating.

A year later and the picture couldn’t be more different. Wallstedt is now part of a two-goalie rotation in Minnesota and has arguably been the best goalie in the NHL. Not the AHL. He's only a rookie, but Wallstedt is making a serious bid for the Vezina with how insanely well he's been playing.

During a recent interview, Wallstedt reflected on that tumultuous time in his career.

“When you’re struggling, you read a lot of the stuff about yourself,” Wallstedt said on a recent episode of the Fellowship of the Rink podcast. "You’re like, 'Oh, it wasn’t my fault.' This guy is thinking, 'I’m a bust, I’m done.' Everything feels like it’s someone else’s fault. Then you go into that bad cycle."

"But when you’re succeeding now, you just laugh at all the comments you got along the way. You’re thinking, you didn’t think I’d get here. All of those people thought I was a bust after just one bad year in my whole career. In that way, it feels kind of good to prove them wrong, even though it’s a small sample size and there’s still a lot of hockey left. But it feels good early on to kind of flip the middle finger back a little and try to get on a roll."

There’s honesty there. Young goalies live alone in their heads, and criticism hits harder when results aren’t there. Wallstedt admitted the noise got to him — and that makes his response even more powerful.

Now, he laughs at it. Not out of spite, but growth. Proving people wrong feels good, especially when they gave up early.

The Mental Battle Behind the Mask

Later in the interview, Wallstedt admitted just how dark that period was for him.

“I was not in a good headspace,” he said. "Obviously, you learn, looking back toward that. Because when you’re in that moment, it’s like you look for a bright spot at the end of the tunnel, but for me, there was no bright spots. It was just a dark tunnel. That was the feeling that I had throughout last year."

That’s the part fans rarely see. The silence. The doubt. The grind. Wallstedt didn’t escape it, he worked through it. And now, it shows in every calm save and every composed rebound control.

This isn’t just a hot streak. It’s a young goalie who climbed out of his lowest point and landed at the very top of his position. The Wild are stacked. The future is bright. And in Jesper Wallstedt, Minnesota may have found the final piece — a star forged under pressure, ready for the spotlight.