Wilderness Walk: Gustavsson near perfect

Filip Gustavsson was a question mark when the Minnesota Wild acquired him from the Ottawa Senators last summer in exchange for the disgruntled Cam Talbot. A young netminder that was projected to be a fairly decent prospect, the Swede is now the best goaltender on a team destined to make the playoffs.

Just last night against the Los Angeles Kings, Gustavsson stood on his head for the entirety of the game and really was the reason why the Wild were able to get two points. He stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced and because of that, he now ranks second in the entire NHL in goals against average (2.11) and save percentage (.928) — the dude is incredible and if given the reins for the rest of the season, could get some trophy recognition come season’s end.

That’s Wild

• The NHL trade deadline is just over a week away so we went around the Hockey Wilderness writers’ room and tried to predict what it is going to look like for our Wild. [Hockey Wilderness]
• Maybe now is the time to “take the training wheels off” of Gustavsson and just let him have the net. [10K Rinks]
• A behind-the-scenes look at how three-team trades happen in the NHL when one team is simply used to launder some of a player’s cap hit, just like how the Wild contributed to Ryan O’Reilly going to the Toronto Maple Leafs. [The Athletic]
• Our Kirill Kaprizov was ranked among the top wingers by his peers. [ESPN]

Off the trail...

• Some more trade rumors are circling — one is that the St. Louis Blues are now interested in Timo Meier. Woof. [Yahoo Sports]
• In the NHL, points in the standings lie and shouldn’t really be used for in-season standings anymore. [Defector]