245 Miles—Here Comes Wally.
Minnesota Wild goaltending prospect Jesper Wallstedt is starting to fine tune his development. For those that have not been paying attention, he is helping a surging Iowa Wild team gain confidence and momentum at an ideal time. With the AHL All-Star Classic around the corner, a young man known as “Wally” to his teammates, is playing his best hockey of the season and so is the team. An incredible January run saw the club lose only one game in regulation the ENTIRE month.
Wallstedt is a huge part of the turnaround, running together a franchise-record eight straight wins. His run began after the Christmas break. He has been razor sharp, stopping 209 of 220 for a .950 save percentage over that span, and allowing a stubborn 1.36 goals against average. His stellar play has helped Iowa rip off a franchise-record 12-game point streak.
“I feel like I'm developing every day and every game I play out there, I feel better and better,” said the netminder. “I feel like there's still small details to keep working on and keep fine tuning, but it definitely feels like it's going in the right direction. And I'm improving, which is always where you want to be.”
His January was truly his best month to date. He was named an AHL All-Star on Jan. 11. Two days later he recorded his first career shutout with 24 saves in Grand Rapids. He also recorded big wins over the AHL leaders Coachella Valley, Texas, Milwaukee, Rockford and Colorado. His incredible play earned him the AHL Goalie of the Month award for January.
“He's played awesome,” said forward Adam Beckman. “I think his numbers show that. I think that he's seeing the game differently. I think that we all know how good he is and how good he can be, so it's awesome to see him playing at that level.”
Let’s not forget, in November he became the youngest goalie in AHL history (19 years old) when he scored in a game at Chicago, two days before his 20th birthday.
“I just want to continue to keep giving the team a good chance in every game,” added Wallstedt.
Wally has learned a lot this season. When his schedule allows, he likes to take in Minnesota Wild games and watch goalie Marc-Andre Fluery. Wallstedt said meeting “Flower” at camp was truly an experience and there was plenty to take in from the future Hall of Famer and Stanley cup winner.
“Meeting him at training camp was a great experience,” replied the rookie. “He's a fun dude and a serious one, too. We have very different styles, but there's always a lot of small things you pick up from outside of the rink. What he does in the gym and nutrition wise, to when you're out there on the ice, how he competes and so on.
“Just these things that all goalies need to do that aren't technical. More like the mental game. Watching him was amazing and I think I picked up a lot of stuff.”
According to Iowa Wild goaltending coach Richard Bachman, this is what has made his game ascend.
“I think the biggest growth in his game has been his practice habits and learning what it means to come to the rink every day, be a pro, and do things the right way,” said Bachman. “And not that he had bad habits before. He's just in pro hockey. You’ve got to bring it every day. Everyone's competing for a job, and you’ve got to do things right.
“And he's learning how to do that day in and day out. And then you're finding the consistency in his actual games played because of that.”
A consistent and strict off-ice routine has made a huge difference. His execution at practice has led to more muscle memory and ability to stop the puck.
“We work to develop muscle memory,” explained Iowa’s goalie coach. “When we're out there in the game, we're not thinking, we're just reacting with our body and it does what we've been training it to do every day.”
“You just combine that with the skill set that was already in place. He's so good at tracking and you hardly ever see him out of position.”
To Wild fans, the first time they really were introduced to Jesper Wallstedt was 2021 NHL Entry Draft, when Minnesota made him the highest drafted goalie in team history, selecting him with pick #20 of the first round on July 23, 2021. The second time they were introduced to him was the 2022 World Juniors last August.
He was a beast and delivered an amazing performance throughout, but what most may remember about him, was his transparency of ownership. The Swedes lost a qualifying round game to Team USA and Wallstedt took the 3-2 loss to heart despite making 38 saves. After the game, he said the loss was essentially on him and he would take responsibility. This is when Minnesota fans realized they have a strong goalie who wants nothing more than to lead his team to win at all costs.
“I take very big responsibilities in what I do on the ice,” explained the 6-foot-3, 213-pound goalie. “If I can't contribute and give our team a good chance to win, I'm going to be disappointed in myself. And just at that game, I felt like I was that kind of a difference maker between letting us win that game and losing that game.”
“I was very disappointed in myself, and it felt like it was my fault that our team lost that game because there was one goal or two goals that was quite cheap. I want to be a difference maker and I'm taking full responsibility with what I put out there on the ice. I know that if I'm not happy with it, I'm going to take my responsibility of it.”
He was resilient in that tournament and for his efforts he earned the Best Goaltender of the 2022 IIHF World Championships. That ownership of responsibility is something you can’t teach.
Wallstedt, who was born in Vasteras, Sweden, learned how to be a goaltender after watching his father Jonas and brother Jacob tend the net. He played two seasons of professional hockey for Lulea HF in the Swedish Hockey League from 2020-22.
Wallstedt, who grew up watching Sweden’s Henrik Lundquist dominate the NHL as a NY Ranger, is in his first season of North American hockey, more than 4,000 miles away from his home. A big help in the adjustment has been the organization’s abundance of players from Sweden, which has made the adjustment easier.
“I was overjoyed to hear that we have so many Swedish guys here,” he said with a grin. “And three up there. Also, they have Zuccarello up there who speaks fluent Swedish. It's definitely easier for you just being able to talk a little bit in Swedish when you maybe aren't as comfortable with the English language. Maybe there are some words or so on, and you don't really know what they are in English.”
To note, Wallstedt’s English is fine, and his game is excellent.
Jesper will likely help his team make a run for the Calder Cup Playoffs in the spring. I would not be surprised if he didn’t get at least one NHL game in by April. As for the Minnesota Wild fans waiting for his emergence, it’s already started. NHL beware, here comes Wally.
