Wild Expected To Assign Filip Gustavsson On Conditioning Loan

After weeks without a healthy roster, the Minnesota Wild are close to the roster they intended to start the season with. According to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, the Wild are expected to assign netminder Filip Gustavsson to the Iowa Wild in the AHL on a conditioning stint.

Gustavsson, 28, has been recovering from offseason hip surgery. At the time of his surgery, his recovery timeline was unknown. In mid-October, three weeks into the regular season, it was reported that Gustavsson would miss another month, if not more, of the season. If he returns the week of November 23rd (two Mondays from now), Gustavsson would be in line with his projected recovery.

Once he returns, it’ll be interesting to see how Minnesota utilizes Gustavsson. Since he’s been out for the first month and a half of the 2026-27 campaign, the Wild have used Jesper Wallstedt as their starter. The former first-round pick has stood on his head, going 13-2-3 with a .925 SV% and 1.94 GAA.

Because of Wallstedt’s performance and his status as Minnesota’s starter of the future, it wouldn’t be surprising if Gustavsson was used as a traditional backup, rather than a 1A/1B split. Still, a $6.8MM salary is a hefty price for a backup netminder.

Not only is Gustavsson earning a relatively large salary, but he has a full no-movement clause through the 2027-28 season, putting him in control of his future. If he’s not receiving starting minutes, he may be more open to a trade, but it feels like an elephant in the room for the Wild moving forward. Not only does Minnesota need to work out an extension with pending unrestricted free agent Quinn Hughes, but they also need to extend Wallstedt, who is a restricted free agent after the season. Needless to say, every cap dollar is important to the Wild.

Regardless, if Minnesota uses Gustavsson as a backup moving forward, he’s about as good a backup as a team could have. Throughout the past two years, the former second-round pick has managed a 59-34-12 record in 108 games with a .909 SV% and 2.62 GAA.