YOUNG DEFENSEMEN DRIVING SUCCESS FOR IOWA WILD
Nov 11, 2026"Hej, hur mår du? Jag är Viking. Trevligt att träffas."
Viking Gustafsson Nyberg has stepped out of the Iowa Wild weight room into a hallway behind the team's locker room. At 6-foot-6, he towers over Johan Eriksson, a correspondent for EXPRESSEN, a Swedish newspaper, as he introduces himself in Swedish. Gustafsson is one of several young defensemen on Iowa's roster, and on the morning of the team's home opener, the two talk for several minutes about how he is adjusting to professional hockey and life in Iowa.
While Gustafsson Nyberg speaks fluent English, opportunities to speak Swedish in Des Moines are few and far between. Hearing his native tongue may have proved to be a good luck charm, as he went on to score his first professional goal against the Rockford IceHogs later that evening.
"I just saw (Mason) Shaw skating up the wall there and then (Carson) Lambos sliding over," said Gustafsson Nyberg. "I started skating down towards the net and Shawzy shot it and then it bounced out perfectly. I just threw it at the net and it went in."
"It was a great feeling, getting my first pro goal."
Gustafsson Nyberg's fellow blueliners joined him with an offensive outburst the next night, with Mike Koster starting the scoring with a game-tying goal midway through the first period. The goal was the first for the former University of Minnesota captain, who skated in 13 games with Iowa during the 2025-26 season.
"It was a big goal," said Koster. "I felt like we were playing really well and it was important to answer back after they went up 1-0. There was definitely a lot of excitement. My family was all pumped up."
Any opportunity for Koster to show off a planned goal celebration was stymied as his momentum took him down to the ice and into the corner boards after the puck found the back of the net. Lambos, who buried a 3-on-3 one-timer later in the period, says that he prefers a subdued celebration after scoring goals.
"I hug my teammates and kind of hit the NHL stock celebration," said Lambos.
The debut goals continued in the second period, with Ben Dexheimer whipping a shot through traffic from the right point.
"I've never really been a celebration guy," said Dexheimer. "I think the one hand stick in the air is pretty typical for me."
Iowa's defensemen may have seemed reserved after their goal barrage on the ice, but they shared moments of levity on the bench as a group, including good-natured shots at the forward group.
"We cracked a couple one-liners in the bench when our defensemen had the first three for sure," said Lambos.
Des Moines will be a particularly important development ground for Minnesota's defensive prospects this season. Of the seven blueliners who played three or more games for Iowa during the month of October, only Lambos (208) and Jack Peart (123) entered the season with 100 professional games of experience.
"That's the nature of the league," said Iowa Wild head coach Stu Bickel. "It's a young league and all of our prospects bring something a little bit different."
Dexheimer, a University of Wisconsin product and Edina native, played two games with Iowa on an ATO following the conclusion of his senior season. The former Badgers captain led Wisconsin defensemen in points in both 2023-24 and 2025-26 and is currently on a one-year, entry-level contract with Minnesota. Iowa's defensive corps is rounded out by Stevie Leskovar, a former sixth round (2024) selection and Roman Schmidt, who Minnesota resigned to a one-year deal following a mid-season acquisition in 2025-26.
"These players are all finding their way in terms of how to be effective at this level," said Bickel. "It's a learning process and I think they're doing a good job with it."
Following their early offensive success, the young prospects are focused on finding a balance between contributing and preventing goals.
"I think we get active, which comes with coaching and them letting us get up the ice," said Lambos. "Our forwards do a good job getting us the puck when we're open. We're probably not going to score three goals every game, but I think we expect to get some scoring from back there and hopefully it's a sign of things to come."
As each player develops in Iowa, the coaching staff helps them focus on specific areas of their game. Bickel, who skated in 310 AHL and 76 NHL games as a defenseman, is well aware of what will be required at the next level.
"What NHL coaches are looking for in a call-up player is dependability," said Bickel. "It's important to be relied on in those are the small areas of the game, like forechecking, having a good stick, being good on the walls, being counted on to get pucks out of the zone, and understanding the defensive zone structure."
For the time being, Iowa expects to be without a pair of alumni who have made early contributions with Minnesota. Matt Kiersted, who was recalled following Iowa's opening weekend at Texas, has provided Minnesota with steady minutes on the third pair throughout the first month of the season. David Spacek, who skated in 192 AHL games with Iowa from 2023-26, made the NHL opening night roster and picked up his first NHL point with an assist on Nov. 1 at Washington.
"It's always exciting for coaches to see players get an opportunity to play in the NHL," said Bickel. "The message is always the same. 'Go up and do something every day to make it impossible for them to send you back.'"