The Wild held an optional morning skate Saturday morning at TRIA Rink that saw an inordinate amount of heavy lifters on the ice — Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin among them. Also working were all three Wild goaltenders, Marc-Andre Fleury on the west end, and Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt sharing a net on the east end, with goalie coach Freddy Chabot shooting pucks at them. While Fleury, the starter Saturday against Seattle at Xcel Energy Center, drilled with teammates, Gustavsson and Wallstedt took turns fielding pucks while the other acted as a screener. With one net and two goalies, Wallstedt said, “Sometimes you have to come up with some different methods. And, obviously, we’re a couple of big guys, so it helps make the screen a little bigger.” Having three goalies on the roster was one of the many reasons the Wild are holding their morning skates at TRIA. Rather than have to make way for the opposing team to get their skate in, Wild players can stay on the ice — for whatever reason — as long as they like. This shouldn’t be the case for the goaltenders next season. Fleury has announced that this season, his 21st NHL campaign, will be his last. Gustavsson is signed through next season, and Wallstedt this week signed a two-year, $4.4 million contract extension that kicks in next fall. The Wild’s first-round pick in the 2021 draft, Wallstedt is playing on the last year of his entry-level contract, which is paying him a team-friendly $925,000 and allows him to be reassigned to the AHL when roster demands arise. It already has happened this season, when illness made defenseman Declan Chisholm unavailable for the opener Thursday. The one-way extension means those days will be over for Wallstedt next season. More important, he said, “I know that I’m going to be here. I love it here, and I want to be here. And I think the work I put in has shown that, and now I’ve just got to keep doing it day by day.” So far, that means practice. The Wild made a point of leaving three goals on the active roster when training camp officially ended Monday afternoon. Wallstedt was the backup on Saturday, but it’s unclear when he might start an official NHL game at the X. All three of his big league starts were on the road last season, although he did start a preseason game here this fall. “I’m going to make sure I’m as ready as possible for it and try to take my chance as soon as I get it,” Wallstedt said. Gustavsson was sharp on Thursday, stopping 31 shots in a 3-2 victory over Columbus, and seems likely to make his second start on Sunday, when the Wild play a 5 p.m. puck drop at Winnipeg. The Wild then play another six straight road games starting Tuesday in St. Louis. Head coach John Hynes was noncommittal on the team’s goalie plans Saturday morning other than to say he and his staff will “see where our team goes, see how our team continues to play and then make some decisions from there.” Fellow rookie Liam Ohgren, the team’s first-round pick in the 2022 draft, is in a similar position. He played four NHL games last season, and three at Iowa, after his Swedish professional team finished its 2023-24 season last spring. It’s hard to look too far ahead when your team has played one game. “There’s an itch to see them play, and I certainly respect that,” Hynes said. “But you also have to manage the team, and guys that are here, and different situations. So, we haven’t had a firm plan on either guy. They had good training camps. We like where they’re at. We think they can help the team, but it doesn’t just mean they would automatically play.” Briefly Chisholm practiced Friday and was there for Saturday’s skate but was held out of the lineup against Seattle. “Give him another day today to skate and give himself up and running and then obviously we got quite a few games here coming up,” Hynes said. Related Articles Minnesota Wild | On the eve of the Wild’s regular season opener, four reasons for optimism Minnesota Wild | Is three a crowd for Wild goaltenders? Minnesota Wild | Wild’s Marc-Andre Fleury hopes to go out with little fanfare Minnesota Wild | On Day 1 of camp, Wild leadership calls for more intensity