Western Notes: Greenway, Allen, Jones, Pouliot

What will the Minnesota Wild do with one of the top up-and-coming prospects? In an extensive mailbag column, The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required) writes that he believes the Minnesota Wild will base its decision on how to proceed with Boston University prospect Jordan Greenway will depend on whether the Wild are in a position to compete for a playoff spot when Greenway’s season is done.

Greenway, the team’s 2015 second-round pick is having another solid season at BU. He has eight goals and 11 assists in 23 games so far this season. Minnesota, who is two points out of a playoffs spot at the moment, would likely sign Greenway and immediately add the 20-year-old wing to their roster and burn his first year of his entry-level contract if the team was competing for a playoff run.

However, Russo adds if the team falls out of the race, they would be more likely to let him go to Iowa of the AHL before coming to Minnesota next season. Russo adds that to sign him, the team will have to move out a contract as they are already at the maximum of 50.

• Also in another mailbag series, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required) writes that despite rumors that St. Louis Blues goaltender Jake Allen’s game has slipped ever since he took a hit to the head in late December, he doesn’t believe that is Allen’s problem. The scribe writes that Allen passed his concussion protocol that evening after sustaining the hit and said he felt fine once he got on his feet and while passing a test doesn’t mean anything, Allen practiced immediately the next day and hasn’t missed a practice since. He says it’s highly unlikely that the team would have allowed him to practice, let alone return to the game, if his head was still a concern.
• Mercury News’ Paul Gackle writes that starting goaltender Martin Jones is listed as day-to-day after suffering a lower-body injury during Thursday’s game against Colorado. Jones was seen with a significant limp after that game. Head coach Peter DeBoer said the injury is unrelated to the injury the netminder suffered back on Nov. 25 which forced him to miss a game. The coach referred to the injury as “minor.” Jones, who has struggled in net since that first injury, has a .886 save percentage in the 13 games since then. Backup Aaron Dell will take his place for tonight’s match against Pittsburgh.
• Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal tweets that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Derrick Pouliot, who was scratched in the team’s last three games, has been dealing with a hand injury and is almost ready to return to the lineup. The 24-year-old defenseman is finally getting playing time with Vancouver after several years of struggling to break into the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup. The Canucks acquired the former first-round pick just before the season began. He has played in 39 games and has a career high of 11 points so far.