Wild, Filip Gustavsson agree to three-year contract extension

Gustavsson and the Wild were set to go to arbitration on Aug. 4, but the team instead will keep him in the Twin Cities with a manageable $3.75M annual cap hit through 2026.

The 25-year-old had played just 27 career NHL games by this time last year but made himself indispensable to Minnesota and GM Bill Guerin with a stellar season that saw him wrest the net from Marc-Andre Fleury down the stretch.

In 37 starts, Gustavsson went 22-9-7 while splitting time with the future Hall-of-Famer. By the year’s end, his .931 save percentage and 2.10 GAA were second to only Vezina-winner Linus Ullmark among goalies to appear in at least 30 games.

The Swede’s strong regular season was enough to convince coach Dean Evason to give him the nod over Fleury in the first round against the Dallas Stars, and though the Wild lost in six games, Gustavsson stopped .921 percent of shots he faced in his five starts.

By trusting Gustavsson with a multiyear deal so early in his career, Guerin is gambling that he will end up with one of the league’s best young netminders for a reasonable price. Based on the player’s 2022-2023 breakout, that is a genuine possibility.

The Wild got the deal over the line with over $1.6M in cap space to spare, but their financial gymnastics in the wake of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s buyouts are far from over.

John Klingberg, Matt Dumba, and Ryan Reaves were allowed to walk away from the team for nothing as free agents, and with over $7M in dead cap on the books through 2025, Guerin has to get creative to avoid similar fates with veterans Fleury, Alex Goligoski, Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello.

Even with a free-agent exodus on the horizon, continued improvement from Gustavsson and youngsters Matt Boldy and Calen Addison could keep Minnesota’s contention window propped open. Having superstar sniper Kiril Kaprizov does not hurt their chances, either.