Friday Feature: Wallstedt Dialed In, Ready To Take Next Step

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HERSHEY, Pa. - Jesper Wallstedt got quite a "gift" for his 21st birthday last month as the netminder was called up to Minnesota on an emergency basis on November 13 - the day before his birthday and just before the Minnesota Wild were set to head to Wallstedt's native Sweden for the Global Series games that weekend against the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs.

While he was the third goalie, the trip to Stockholm allowed Wallstedt to see his family and friends from nearby Vasteras - just over 100 kilometers and about an hour and a half drive away.

"It was unreal. Going home, seeing my family, seeing my friends - a lot of people in the cities that you grew up in," Wallstedt said of enjoying his time in Sweden last month. "It felt like I got a huge restart for coming back and it felt like it was almost like it was the start of the season again, which gave me a lot of energy. I just feel like I'm in a good spot after that trip. I'm enjoying hockey and where I'm at right now."

The trip to Sweden with Minnesota, and the new energy it has provided Wallstedt, has certainly paid dividends for their AHL affiliate in Iowa.

His 7-4-0 record in 11 appearances on the season might not jump off the page, but it's impressive when you consider that Iowa had managed to score just 37 goals in 17 games (2.08 goals per game on average) before starting off December with a 5-1 win in Colorado.

Despite that one-game offensive onslaught, Wallstedt was still a big part of the win - making 40 saves on 41 shots to pick up his first win since returning from the big club and improving his numbers on the year to a gaudy 2.03 goals-against average and impressive .934 save percentage.

The jump from the SHL to the AHL last year, Wallstedt's first season of pro hockey in North America, was certainly a big adjustment for the 20th overall selection from the 2021 NHL Draft.

Wallstedt finished last year with an 18-15-5 record to go along with a solid 2.68 goals-against average and .908 save percentage, but the 2022-23 season gave him first-hand experience and knowledge that allowed him to enter the summer with a much better understanding of how the game is played in the AHL.

"I think I just wasn't as prepared last year as I was [for] this year," Wallstedt admitted after a 2-1 loss in Hershey on November 25. "I was kind of just preparing myself for a new season in the SHL because I didn't know what the NHL or the AHL was like."

Having gone through that experience last year - having 'one season in my backpack' as Wallstedt put it - and understanding what it takes, how to prepare day in and day out, and dealing with a much more demanding schedule of games that he was used to in Sweden allowed Wallstedt to more properly train/prepare this past summer and is a big reason why he has hit the ground running in the first to months of this season.

"I feel like I'm just way more acclimated this year and ready to go from from the start of season," Wallstedt added.

Iowa Wild head coach Brett MacLean had nothing but great things to say about his teams' highly-regarded goalie prospect.

"There's a reason why guys are first rounders, especially for a goalie," MacLean told InsideAHLHockey.com last weekend, explaining that when Minnesota drafted Wallstedt at the 2021 NHL Draft that he had a few friends of his in Europe he hadn't heard from in awhile text messaging him that they got a really good one in Wallstedt. "So right away I was put on alert with him," MacLean said.

The thing that stands out about Wallstedt's game, and it was also the first thing that MacLean mentioned when asked about Wallstedt's game, is that besides being a big, 6-foot-3 goaltender - which obviously helps - there's a calmness to his game that is well beyond his years as a 21-year-old.

"He just calmly covers it. He just doesn't panic," MacLean said, citing a stretch where Hershey was buzzing in Iowa's defensive zone and creating chances with regularity, only for Wallstedt to shut the door - and make it look easy. "And that's really what stands out for a young man. It's his maturity on the ice and off the ice. So that that may be what sets him apart even more at this young age."

The hype is certainly real for Wallstedt for anyone who has viewed him in-person this season. Other than the 6-2 loss in Rockford on October 27, Wallstedt has allowed two or fewer goals in eight of his other 10 appearances in net on the season. Simply dominating stuff.

It's possible he's tired of being asked what he needs to do to get to the NHL full-time, or perhaps he misunderstood a question asked about what he was working on while in the AHL, but either way it provided quite the quote to end our interview with Wallstedt last weekend.

He certainly seems like a man on a mission this year in the AHL.

"I'm just playing wherever I am. Every day, I'm putting in the work -  if they put me here, or in the ECHL or in the NHL. I'm just going to work my ass off and and see how it goes, and continue developing and improving."

Things have been going well for Wallstedt lately, as the AHL recognized him as the league's player of the week (November 27 to December 3) for last week's dominating performances in Colorado - including a career-high 43 saves for Wallstedt in last Saturday's game.

The sky is the limit for this highly touted goalie prospect.

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