The Minnesota Wild have reassigned forward Sammy Walker back to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported earlier today that top Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek left today’s practice with the non-scratches, hinting that he could be nearing a return to the ice. Walker had been on the Wild’s roster as a reserve player to help deal with Eriksson Ek’s absence, so this reassignment combined with Russo’s note from practice points to the increasingly likely possibility that Eriksson Ek is getting ready to play again.
Of course, another possible factor motivating this reassignment is the fact that AHL Iowa is fighting to keep their season alive tonight against the Rockford IceHogs. A Rocco Grimaldi overtime winner for Rockford in the first game of the AHL’s best-of-three playoff qualifying series put Iowa on the brink of elimination, so seeing as Walker has been one of their top scoring forwards this season it makes sense that the organization would want him back in the AHL to keep Iowa’s Calder Cup hopes alive.
That being said, NHL considerations always come first so it’s more likely that this reassignment has to do with Eriksson Ek’s progress than the team sacrificing a reserve insurance player in order to help out their affiliate in a qualifying-round series.
Should Eriksson Ek make his return soon, he would provide the Wild with a major boost in their currently deadlocked first-round series against the Dallas Stars. His 61 points this season were tops among Wild centers and his defensive play has drawn rave reviews from across the league for years now.
As for Walker, he’ll now get the chance to help AHL Iowa save their season. The former Minnesota Gopher has scored 27 goals and 48 points in 56 AHL games, an impressive performance for a rookie professional. He didn’t get into either of the Wild’s two playoff games, and last played in the NHL on April 13th.