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Young Minnesota Wild goalie makes Oilers management look like fools

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MarcO
February 2, 2023  (12:25)
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The Edmonton Oilers may long regret a strange decision they made during the 2021 draft.

To put it in context, the Alberta team entered the draft with the 20th overall selection. If one of the organization's glaring needs was to add a goalie with the potential to become a number one in the NHL, the Oilers had a golden opportunity to fill that need.

As we've seen in the last few playoffs, Edmonton has been successful despite the fact that their goaltending has been very ordinary for many years.

Now, at No. 20, there is still a certain Jesper Wallstedt available. He is a tall 6 foot 3 inch Swede with elite goaltending potential, who already had an impressive track record behind the tie as the number one goalie at age 18 in Europe's top league, the SHL.

However, the team's GM, Ken Holland, decided to move back two spots, giving up his selection to the Minnesota Wild.

So who will draft the Wild at #20 with Edmonton's selection? Jesper Wallstedt.

A year later, the 20-year-old netminder made the jump to North American hockey when he joined the Minnesota Wild. After adjusting early in the season, he has been on fire since the new year. He finished January with a 1.16 GAA and a .958 SV%.

While he benefits from Marc-Andre Fleury allowing him to develop in the minors, Wallstedt is the organization's next franchise goalie, despite the team already having a great young goalie in Filip Gustavsson, who is second to Fleury in the NHL.

In fact, in his rookie season, he was selected for the AHL All-Star Game. Gustavsson is poised for a very solid career as the number one goaltender in the NHL, and it could happen sooner rather than later.

I have a feeling that the Oilers organization will regret this decision to ignore Jesper Wallstedt in the draft for a long time.

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Young Minnesota Wild goalie makes Oilers management look like fools

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