On Friday morning at the Xcel Energy Center, five different groups of Minnesota Wild prospects hit the ice for their own one-hour training session. Each group included one goaltender, and each goalie spent the majority of the practice working with Wild goaltending coach Bob Mason.

When a prospect has a chance to work directly with an NHL goalie coach, the experience is invaluable. It’s not only a chance to run through quality goalie-specific drills, but it also allows for master instructors to make a few minor adjustments that go a long way in improving the goalie’s overall game.

Photo Copyright: Justin Goldman – The Goalie Guild

Depending on the goalie and the adjustments they make, one hour can actually influence their career for the rest of their life.

For two goaltenders — Joe Howe and Mackenzie Skapski — their status as camp invitees transformed these otherwise routine practices into golden opportunities. Knowing they had the chance to gain exposure in front of the coaching staff, and potentially a chance at an entry level contract, they worked as hard as they would in a playoff game.

“He’s a great coach and an even better person,” Howe said regarding Mason. “I wasn’t expecting a lot of attention from him, but he was great to me all week long. He just had a few main points, like keeping your toes facing the puck, and made a few little tweaks. He’s not here to change your game — he just makes a couple of adjustments and lets you do your thing.”

For 20-year-old Swedish prospect Johan Gustafsson, the experience at last week’s development camp was an eye-opener for not only himself, but also for the coaching staff and fans. On the heels of a new three-year entry-level contract, one of the Elitserien’s top goalies proved he was worth every penny.

Not only did he excel in both open scrimmages (especially during Sunday’s shootout), but the entire week was a massive boost to his overall confidence and maturity as a highly-touted Wild prospect.

Photo Copyright: Justin Goldman – The Goalie Guild

When it comes to evolving into an NHL goaltender, Europeans have a considerable hill to climb. Not only do they generally face better talent once they begin their journey in North America, but they also have to get acclimated to stopping pucks on a smaller ice surface.

So facing quality talent – including snipers like Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker – for an entire week became a valuable lesson in terms of making that transition to the NHL ice surface and more “north-south” style of play.

During Johan’s practice session with Mason on Friday morning, most of their work together revolved around puck-moving and passing drills. Getting used to stopping the puck in front of the goal line and inside the trapezoid, then dishing it to a waiting receiver, allowed Gustafsson to visualize the different angles that come with the smaller ice surface.

It also helped him make good decisions on when and where to move the puck as oncoming forecheckers approached him with speed.

On the flip side, development camp was such an important venture for Gustafsson because the Wild scouts and coaching staff had a chance to better decipher and understand some of his tendencies and traits. This isn’t always possible during the regular season, as scouts might only travel to Sweden to see him play one or two games at a time, and that makes it tough to know what element was considered a trait, or just a result of those specific games.

One of Gustafsson’s unique traits on display last week was his glove; it always stayed open. This is something you’ll see in other Swedish goalies, namely Rangers superstar Henrik Lundqvist. The palm and the fingers stay stretched out as far as possible in order to maximize the amount of surface area the glove covers.

Photo Copyright: Justin Goldman – The Goalie Guild

Like most highly-touted Swedish goalies, Gustafsson also brings pristine technique to the crease. His best asset is a pure precision and consistency with his movements that very few 20-year-old goalies display. His balance, plus his ability to stop on a dime and square up to shooters, is very impressive.

In fact, most scouts will tell you that the foundation of Gustafsson’s success is his excellent footwork.

For his age, his ability to seal the ice with his leg pads is bar none. This stems from a “low and wide” approach with his stance, meaning he likes to extend both skates well beyond his shoulders, and then bring the knees a little lower to the ice, so that it takes less time for him to drop into the butterfly and seal off the lower portion of the net.

Along with his solid skating skills and refined mechanics, his edge control on both skates acts as a catalyst for his tremendous lower-body mobility. He’s very smooth when executing lateral slides in all directions, and his butterfly recoveries reflected that same fluid trait.

Furthermore, at no time in either scrimmage did Gustafsson appear hesitant, nervous, or tense. Aside from a few scrambling sequences, he was in full control of his movements, he processed plays and tracked pucks with quality precision, and he played with a relaxed, confident mindset.

In the shootout on Sunday, his depth was consistent and his gap control was solid, and he only allowed two goals on nearly 20 shots. Both goals beat him high to the glove side, but everything below the waist was sealed off perfectly.

Photo Copyright: Justin Goldman – The Goalie Guild

Overall, Gustafsson’s performance during development camp was eye-opening and impressive. But to some, it came as no surprise; Johan posted the second-best goals-against average (1.68) with Lulea last season, and pitched a shutout in the title game of the 2012 World Junior Championships, which brought home the Gold Medal for Sweden.

If camp proved one thing for Minnesota’s coaching staff, it’s that the future is very bright for a goalie that will most likely continue to play in Sweden next season. This course of action is a cerebral approach for the Wild, as there’s no reason to rush the former sixth-round draft pick in 2010. He’s only 20 years old, and since he still has plenty to learn about stopping the puck on the smaller ice surface, it only makes sense to let him evolve at a slow and steady rate.

But by bringing him over for last week’s development camp, the Wild and Mason did exactly what they needed to do to effectively manage and improve just one of their many highly-touted prospects.