The Wild announced today that they’ve recalled forward Ben Jones and defenseman Matt Kiersted from AHL Iowa. They have two open roster spots and thus don’t need to make any corresponding moves.
Minnesota is expecting Matt Boldy to return to the team from his gold medal win with Team USA in time for tomorrow’s game against the Predators, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. However, they didn’t have an extra forward rostered in case he isn’t able to go. Jones, who’s already suited up 26 times for Minnesota this season, will do the honors.
With the Wild having a back-to-back road trip to kick off their post-break schedule, there’s a decent chance they’ll need him for at least one of the contests. He last appeared for the Wild on Jan. 20 before being reassigned to Iowa a few days later. Jones, who turns 27 on Thursday, was a high-scoring piece in juniors but hasn’t found much of any offense at the NHL level. He has a goal and an assist this season, the only two points of his career in 54 total games. He’s only averaged 8:36 per game of ice time but has been valuable as a depth faceoff-taker, winning 53.5% of his draws.
Outside of that, Jones’ game is uninspiring. His -10 rating is ahead of only Marcus Foligno‘s -11. He averages under a shot on goal per game. His 2.04 hits per game rank fourth on the team, but that’s more a measure of how little Minnesota has the puck when he’s on the ice. His 39.2 CF% at even strength is the lowest among active Wild forwards.
As for Kiersted, he gives the Wild two extra defenders – also in case fellow Olympians Brock Faber and Quinn Hughes aren’t available. He joins David Spacek, who was recalled from Iowa on Saturday. The 27-year-old was already jockeyed between the NHL and AHL over the break to give the Wild some extra practice players. The lefty has just seven points in 33 AHL games this season with a -5 rating, adding an assist and a -1 mark in four NHL contests in December and January.