Defenseman David Jiricek, goalie Jesper Wallstedt figure into Wild plans for next season

The Wild have money to spend this offseason on free agents, but an influx of youth from within is still a go.

Jesper Wallstedt is moving up the goaltending depth chart now that Marc-Andre Fleury is retired, and defenseman David Jiricek will have a spot on the team, President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin said.

But Jiricek’s responsibilities will be decided by Jiricek.

“How much he plays or where he plays or how high up the lineup he plays, situations, that’s up to him,” Guerin explained. “He’s got to earn it, but we believe in him.”

To acquire the 2022 first-rounder from Columbus last November, the Wild sent the Blue Jackets four picks — including their first-round pick in this summer’s draft — and prospect Daemon Hunt.

The 6-4, 204-pound Jiricek played sparingly with the Wild, appearing in only six games, and after he was returned to the minors in late March following a lengthy stint as a healthy scratch, Jiricek, 21, suffered a lacerated spleen.

He’s expected to be recovered and ready for the start of next season.

“He had a crazy year,” Guerin said. “But his attitude has been amazing. He’s got a strong personality. He believes in himself. We believe in him, and we’re just looking forward to him getting healthy and getting back on track. I think he’s gonna spend some time here this summer, which is fantastic because we’ve gotten good results when players do that.”

Wallstedt is also expected to be in Minnesota “to make sure he is in the best possible shape he can be,” Guerin mentioned.

Initially pegged for the NHL as part of a three-goalie tandem with Fleury and Filip Gustavsson, Wallstedt was demoted to Iowa in the American Hockey League by the Wild’s salary-cap crunch, and he struggled on the ice during a self-described “all-time low” in which his head “wasn’t in the right spot.”

Wallstedt, who the Wild drafted in the first round in 2021, went 9-14-4 with an .879 save percentage and 3.59 goals-against average.

“I know he’s got the talent,” Guerin said. “He’s just got to fight a little harder when things don’t go in his way. But I believe in him as a player and as a person.”

The Wild will have a role for Fleury in retirement, but Guerin isn’t sure what it’ll be.

Fleury also doesn’t know what would suit him, although the future Hall of Famer noted helping younger players could be fun; he doesn’t want to coach or be on television.

“Yeah, there’ll be something for Flower,” Guerin said.

In the meantime, Fleury and captain Jared Spurgeon will represent Canada at the IIHF World Championship.

Zeev Buium is also participating, for Team USA, while Marcus Johansson and Jonas Brodin will suit up for Sweden.

Guerin indicated Brodin might have needed surgery but that he’s doing better. Gustavsson is still being evaluated, Guerin said, and the team doesn’t know if he’ll require surgery.

Marcus Foligno dealt with a hand issue late in the season but is “100 percent healthy,” Foligno said.

For a second consecutive year, the Wild penalty kill (72.4%) finished third to last in the NHL, but coach John Hynes felt the Wild established a foundation and the team was 14th from March 1 to the end of the regular season.

“We adjusted the systems two or three times in the season,” Hynes said. “We used the same penalty kill in the 4 Nations that didn’t give up a goal, so we like some of the structural things. But I think some of it comes down to a little bit of the personnel.

“You look at a guy like [Matt] Boldy. He was excellent killing penalties, and we made some adjustments to some of the personnel. We made some adjustments to the system a little bit. I think there’s some good things to build on from it.”