The Edmonton Oilers had an opportunity to add a top goalie prospect to the organization back in 2021, but opted to go another route.

That draft saw the Oilers hold the 20th pick in the first round, and rumours were swirling that the team was seriously considering drafting a goaltender. Edmonton Oil Kings goalie Sebastian Cossa was the speculated target, even though he was the second-ranked netminder in the draft, behind Sweden’s Jesper Wallstedt.

It was widely expected that Wallstedt would go before Cossa, but when the draft rolled around, that isn’t what happened. Instead, the Oil Kings goaltender was the first to come off the board to the Detroit Red Wings at 15th overall, while Wallstedt slid down further than anybody thought he would.

Once it came around to Edmonton, Wallstedt was still on the board, and it seemed like a slam-dunk for an organization that lacked much in the goaltending department. Yet, the Oilers’ brass opted to trade the pick to the Minnesota Wild, moving down two spots and selecting QMJHL forward Xavier Bourgault instead.

Fast forward a few years, and that decision is looking like a massive mistake by then-GM Ken Holland and director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright.

Jesper Wallstedt’s last two games:

64 shots faced
64 saves made

Perfection for another @pepsi shutout. 👌 pic.twitter.com/X80vNZa0V9

— NHL (@NHL) November 16, 2025

Bourgault was an offensive-minded centreman when he was drafted, having scored 33 goals and 71 points with the Shawinigan Cataractes the year prior. That didn’t really translate all that well into the pro leagues, as he stalled out at 34 points in his rookie season with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors and never made a serious push for an NHL spot.

Edmonton eventually cut ties with Bourgault in the summer of 2024, trading him to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for the often-injured Roby Jarventie. Since then, the Quebecois forward hasn’t done much to suggest an NHL future is in the cards.

That hasn’t been the case for Wallstedt, who is starting to show flashes of being a more-than-capable NHL goaltender. It’s taken a bit longer than some expected, and there were a few struggles for the Swedish netminder to begin his pro career.

Wallstedt put up pedestrian numbers in the AHL over the last three seasons, posting a .902 SV% and a mediocre 49-48-13 record. Those aren’t eye-popping numbers by any means, and guys like Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury mostly blocked his path to a full-time NHL gig.

With Fleury retiring this past offseason, the Wild decided to give Wallstedt the backup job this season, and he’s looked fantastic. In six games so far this year, the 23-year-old has a 4-0-2 record and is coming off back-to-back shutout performances against the Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks. It’s very early, but it looks like the Wild may have found their goaltending tandem for the next decade or so.

Meanwhile, the Oilers continue to struggle to get consistent goaltending from either Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard. Their backup plan, Connor Ingram, is working to regain form in the AHL, and the only solid goaltender in the system is a 21-year-old ECHL goaltender,  Samuel Jonsson.

Edmonton didn’t have a lot of legitimate goaltending options back in 2021, outside of Skinner, while the forward group was always a strength of this team. To willingly look past the top goalie of the draft class and then take another offensive forward seemed silly at the time, and it looks even worse now.