EA Sports catapults Minnesota’s young netminder into the elite tier, ranking him alongside established stars as the eighth-best goaltender in the latest digital hockey power rankings.
Jesper Wallstedt's emergence has apparently caught the attention of EA Sports.
The Minnesota Wild goaltender received an 87 overall rating in NHL 27 and was ranked as the eighth-best goalie in the game.
Tampa Bay Lightning star Andrei Vasilevskiy leads the position with a 94 overall rating, followed by Ilya Sorokin at 93 and Connor Hellebuyck at 92.
Igor Shesterkin received a 91 overall rating, Logan Thompson is at 90 and Jeremy Swayman sits at 89. Jake Oettinger is seventh at 88 before Wallstedt checks in at No. 8.
Wallstedt is tied at 87 overall with Anaheim's Lukas Dostal and Calgary's Dustin Wolf.
For Minnesota, Wallstedt's placement is particularly noteworthy considering the company now views him in the same group as some of the NHL's established starting goaltenders.
The Wild drafted Wallstedt 20th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft with the expectation that he could eventually develop into their long-term answer in net.
EA Sports appears convinced that development has arrived.
With an 87 overall rating, Wallstedt isn't simply being viewed as one of the league's promising young goalies anymore. NHL 27 already has him rated as one of the 10 best goaltenders in hockey.
Wallstedt, 23, is entering the last year of his two-year contract with the Wild and will be a restricted free agent (RFA) after the season.
The 6-foot-3 goaltender went 18-9-6 in 35 games for the Wild with a 2.61 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. In ten playoff games Wallstedt went 5-5-0 with a 2.77 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.
With Filip Gustavsson injured and recovering from off-season surgery, Wallstedt is set to play in a bigger role this season. He will be the starter for at least the first two months of the season before Gustavsson comes back in November.
But with Wallstedt in his final year of his contract and a bunch of goaltenders getting big contracts, along with Gustavsson out for two months, this will be a big year for the Swedish goaltender.
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