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Samuel Hlavaj has an .884 save percentage in the AHL this season. He's at .932 in the Olympics and has Slovakia in the semifinals. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
MILAN — Samuel Hlavaj’s performance at these Olympics may not erase the tough season the Minnesota Wild minor-leaguer has had. But he sure has provided a reminder that, given the right circumstances and right set of teammates, he can be a quality goaltender.
Indeed, he seems to sparkle in just about every international tournament he plays in, even as he’s struggled to get pucks to hit him in North American pro hockey — granted, playing with the AHL’s worst team, the Iowa Wild.
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Essentially fourth on the Minnesota Wild’s goalie depth chart, Hlavaj has started three of four games during Slovakia’s Cinderella run to the semifinals, going 2-1 with a 2.67 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. On Wednesday, he backstopped the team to a quarterfinal win over Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stützle and Germany, making 25 saves on 27 shots.
That from a 24-year-old undrafted goalie who has a 5-9-5 record, 3.33 GAA and .884 save percentage in the AHL this season.
“I always knew I’m a good goalie,” Hlavaj said. “So I never was doubting myself. But this one helps a lot. When you have (a) group of players like this, it’s so much fun to play around them.”
Hlavaj went 14-14-14 last season with a 2.85 GAA and .904 save percentage for an Iowa team that was third-worst in the AHL — then went 2-3 in the World Championship with a 1.99 GAA and .912 save percentage. That came eight months after he ran the table in the Olympic qualifier in Bratislava against Austria, Kazakhstan and Hungary, going 3-0 with a 1.67 GAA and .929 save percentage.
The Wild pursued Hlavaj in the first place because of his outstanding World Championships in 2023 (.932 save percentage) and 2024 (.925 save percentage).
Slovakia and Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehérváry played with Hlavaj in one of those worlds, plus World Juniors
“He was amazing in there as well, so I’m not surprised,” Fehérváry said. “He’s our backbone. We knew this was a pretty good goalie and we’re just trying to help him as much as we can.”
Slovakia and Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak, on the other hand, had never played with Hlavaj before.
“I came here two days before the tournament started for the Olympics, and the first practice, I was like, ‘Holy moly. He’s pretty decent,’” Cernak said. “He’s big. He’s moving in the net. He’s playing a big part of our team.
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“It’s hard to say why he hasn’t had success in the minors. He knows he’s the No. 1 goalie here and knows he’s getting support from our fans and the teammates and from everybody. But he wouldn’t have a contract if he wasn’t a good goalie. I’ve never been a goalie, but with the goalie, it’s probably a little harder. He just probably needs time.”
Regardless of the international success, that time may not come in Minnesota.
The Wild signed Filip Gustavsson to a five-year extension before this season, and Jesper Wallstedt — Hlavaj’s goalie partner in Iowa last season, who uncoincidentally also had terrible statistics there — is considered a big part of Minnesota’s future if he’s not used as trade bait before the March 6 trade deadline or this offseason.
Hlavaj is a restricted free agent this offseason. He’ll have a choice to make, as will the Wild.
Hlavaj has been so bad in Iowa that the Wild could consider not tendering him a qualifying offer after this season. If they don’t, he would become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, allowing him to sign anywhere. Plenty of teams will be looking for good goalies.
He could also play hardball and try to force a trade by declining to re-sign and threatening to return to Europe.
The other option is to re-sign for one year and hope that the Wild — in win-now mode, and short of prospects and draft picks after trading for Quinn Hughes, David Jiricek and Gustav Nyquist the past two years — plan to use Wallstedt as a chip.
Asked point-blank if he sees a future for himself in Minnesota, Hlavaj said Wednesday, “I mean, it’s pretty tough there. But I think I can play in (the) NHL. It will be Minnesota or some other team. Guess we will see. But I’m not looking into the future that much right now. I’m just looking (at) what’s gonna happen here.”
And that’s a potential medal for Slovakia for the second time in four years.
Slovakia took bronze in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, when the NHL pulled out over COVID-19 concerns. Hlavaj wasn’t the goalie then but hopes to give this legit young team, full of NHL prospects, a chance to do even better.
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Next up, coincidentally, is the United States — a team featuring Wild stars Matt Boldy, Brock Faber and Hughes and managed by Wild general manager Bill Guerin, the man who gave Hlavaj his first NHL contract but hasn’t yet given him a stint in Minnesota.
Could you imagine if it’s a Hlavaj-backstopped Slovakia team that ends the Americans’ hope of winning a gold medal?
Whoa.
“We made it to (the) semifinal, so it’s awesome, and it will be even better if (we) win Friday,” Hlavaj said. “I don’t really care what will happen (in Iowa) when I get back. I’m just trying to stop the puck here, and what’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen. … It’s already like (a) huge success if you look at the other rosters and ours. So it’s really good, but we have two more games to prove ourselves.
“Hopefully, this is the start of something big.”
Maybe for his North American pro career, too.
“I think his time is gonna come,” Fehérváry said. “He’s got a pretty tough position right now with Minnesota goalies. So it’s a little bit unfortunate for him, but I think he’s gonna prove to everyone that he’s deserving of their chance.”
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Michael Russo is a senior writer covering the Minnesota Wild and the National Hockey League for The Athletic. He has covered the NHL since 1995 (Florida Panthers) and the Wild since 2005, previously for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Minneapolis Star Tribune. Michael is a five-time Minnesota Sportswriter of the Year and in 2017 was named the inaugural Red Fisher Award winner as best beat writer in the NHL. Michael can be seen on NHL Network; and heard on KFAN (100.3 FM) and the Worst Seats in the House podcast (talknorth.com). He can be found on Instagram and X at @russohockey and Bluesky at @russohockey.bsky.social. Follow Michael on Twitter @RussoHockey
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