The Wild have reassigned defenseman Daemon Hunt and forward Jake Lucchini to AHL Iowa, per a team announcement.
These transactions must have been completed yesterday to be permitted under the NHL’s holiday roster freeze, which lifts December 28. The Wild recalled Hunt under standard conditions after December 11, meaning the Wild could send him down to the minors during the roster freeze as long as the transaction was completed by midnight today.
The same stipulation does not apply to Lucchini, who the Wild recalled under emergency conditions on Thursday. As the conditions that necessitated Lucchini’s recall no longer apply, he can be sent down any time during the roster freeze. Ryan Hartman was unavailable for Saturday’s game versus the Bruins with an upper-body injury, leaving the Wild with 11 healthy forwards on the active roster. Thus, Lucchini was eligible for an emergency recall.
Only players who cost no greater than $100K above the league minimum salary against the cap, which equates to $875K this season, are eligible for emergency recalls. Lucchini’s cap hit is $775K.
Teams can recall players at will during the roster freeze, meaning both Hunt and Lucchini could find themselves back on the Wild roster before Wednesday’s game against the Red Wings. That will depend on the health of Hartman and captain Jared Spurgeon, who remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury and has not played since December 10 against the Kraken. Spurgeon has missed the last six games, bringing his total games missed due to injury counter this season to 19. He missed the first 13 games of the regular season with an upper-body injury. Neither player has been ruled out of Wednesday’s contest.
Hunt, 21, has played nine NHL games this season and remains on track to develop into a well-rounded, second-pairing-caliber defenseman. Selected 65th overall by the Wild in 2020, Hunt is in the second season of his entry-level contract. He’s looked much more confident in his sophomore professional season, recording one goal, eight assists, nine points, and a +3 rating in 14 minor-league games. It’s a considerable step up from last season’s pace when Hunt recorded 11 points in 59 games for Iowa.
He has one assist and solid possession metrics in his major-league time this season, but it’s hard to judge his performance given his limited usage. Hunt averaged only 10:07 per game and played less than ten minutes on four occasions. He played just 4:28 over six shifts in Thursday’s game against the Canadiens and was a healthy scratch against Boston yesterday.
Lucchini, 28, made his Wild debut against the Bruins, playing left wing on a line with Marco Rossi and Marcus Foligno. The versatile long-time pro logged two shots on goal and won his lone faceoff attempt in 10:05 of ice time. The Wild controlled 46.7% of Corsi events with Lucchini on the ice at even strength. He returns to Iowa, where his nine goals in 24 games are tied for the team lead with Nic Petan. His 20 points are second on the team behind Petan’s 26.