Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Wild Rumors

Wild Place Mats Zuccarello, Jake Middleton On IR; Recall Two

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Wild announced today they’ve recalled winger Nicolas Aubé-Kubel and defenseman Matt Kiersted from AHL Iowa. Those recalls come after defenseman Jacob Middleton and winger Mats Zuccarello left Monday’s 4-1 win over the Kraken with injuries. Both of them have now landed on injured reserve in the corresponding moves.

Minnesota kicks off a string of three games in four nights tonight against the Stars. Middleton and Zuccarello will be eligible for reinstatement after that stretch, with their earliest possible return date coming Dec. 16 against the Capitals. There isn’t much known about when Middleton will be available again. He left the game in the third period with what the team termed an upper-body injury, but it wasn’t clear when he was injured, and they haven’t issued a timeline for his return.

The Wild have cleaned things up defensively after a tough start, but the loss of a second-pairing fixture won’t help the Minnesota blue line. Middleton has six assists in 28 games this season, averaging 18:08 of ice time per game as the left-shot partner to captain Jared Spurgeon at even strength. Those two also make up the defensive nucleus of the Wild’s second penalty kill unit. At 5-on-5, he leads Minnesota defensemen with a 51.4% share of high-danger chances.

As usual, the Wild’s recalls aren’t expected to step directly into the lineup and will instead serve as press-box fodder while Minnesota’s usual healthy scratches fill in the gaps in the lineup. That means Daemon Hunt, who’s spent most of the season as the Wild’s extra rearguard, will be stepping directly into Middleton’s shoes alongside Spurgeon, per Joe Smith of The Athletic. He’s fresh, having played against Seattle because the Wild dressed 11 forwards and seven defenders, but was a healthy scratch in eight straight before that.

Zuccarello is also dealing with an upper-body issue, likely a facial injury. He took a hard tumble in the first period after being laid out by Seattle defender Vince Dunn in the first period and didn’t return, leaving the Wild with only 10 forwards for much of the game. Head coach John Hynes wasn’t particularly concerned about his status, per Sarah McLellan of The Minnesota Star Tribune, but they haven’t confirmed whether Zuccarello is day-to-day – or worse.

The 38-year-old Norwegian has already missed significant time once this season. He started experiencing a lower-body issue late in the offseason that caused him to miss the first 15 games. Since returning, he’s been stapled to his usual role opposite Kirill Kaprizov on Minnesota’s top line. His ever-consistent production since arriving in the Twin Cities didn’t miss a beat, rattling off a 2-10–12 scoring line. His 0.80 points per game put him third on the team behind Kaprizov and Matt Boldy.

An extended absence past the three-game mark would be significant, especially since the Wild are also without their usual top-line center, Marco Rossi, due to a foot/ankle fracture. He’s still week-to-week with no imminent return. Rookie Danila Yurov has stepped into the role over the last nine games and has one goal and four assists in that span.

Ben Jones and Tyler Pitlick will re-enter the lineup with Zuccarello out after serving as healthy scratches against Seattle, per Smith, returning the Wild to a traditional 12-forward alignment. They’ll flank Nico Sturm on the fourth line. Vladimir Tarasenko will be shifted up to replace Zuccarello alongside Kaprizov and Yurov, forming an all-Russian top unit. The four-time All-Star has three goals and 11 points in 23 games this season after Minnesota picked him up from the Red Wings for future considerations over the offseason.

Both Aubé-Kubel and Kiersted are ticketed for scratches tonight. Aubé-Kubel has already been recalled once this season, but wasn’t even rostered for a game. Minnesota summoned him from Iowa on Thanksgiving but returned him before their game against the Avalanche on Black Friday after they received confirmation that Ryan Hartman would return to the lineup following a four-game absence. The veteran of 304 NHL games signed a two-way deal with the Wild in the offseason and has contributed a 5-8–13 scoring line in 23 showings in the AHL, almost incomprehensibly tied for the team lead in scoring. Minnesota’s farm club has scored just 1.92 goals per game this season.

Kiersted, 27, was also a two-way pickup over the summer and is in his first year with the organization. The left-shot Minnesota native has 39 NHL games to his name, all with the Panthers, who signed him as an undrafted free agent out of North Dakota back in 2021. He was a dominant two-way threat in the minors last season, posting a league-best +34 rating with Charlotte, but has a -12 mark with just three assists in 23 games for Iowa.

Wild Reportedly Have “Significant Interest” In Kiefer Sherwood

at CDT | by 9 Comments

The Minnesota Wild have reportedly “shown significant interest” in Vancouver Canucks veteran forward Kiefer Sherwood, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith.

Sherwood, a pending unrestricted free agent, is widely expected to be dealt by the Canucks before the trade deadline next year. According to Russo and Smith, “The Canucks have shopped him around the league and originally wanted a good, young prospect.”

Smith and Russo now cite league sources who tell them the Canucks “have since changed gears” in their expectations, and “now want a good roster player and have also asked teams for a first-round pick.”

Whether the Wild remain interested in trading for Sherwood specifically at that price remains unclear. Earlier this month, we covered reporting indicating that Sherwood clearly fits the exact kind of mold of player Wild GM Bill Guerin would like to acquire.

The 30-year-old is notoriously difficult to play against, combining pest-like attributes with a real physical edge to his game.

The sandpaper in Sherwood’s game (he registered a whopping 462 hits last season) pairs with Sherwood’s more recent emergence as a goal scorer to create a really intriguing player for teams to target.

Sherwood has already scored 12 goals this season, and he had 19 goals and 40 points last year. While he’s rapidly increasing his expected asking price in free agency next summer, he’s also rapidly increasing his overall on-ice value.

As for his potential trade fit in Minnesota, it’s important to also note that there is some recent history of substantial trade talks between the Wild and Canucks. Russo and Smith in the same piece as earlier reported that “the Canucks turned down an offer from the Wild” that would have sent Wild center Marco Rossi to Vancouver at the 2025 draft. Per Russo and Smith, the offer included the No. 15 overall pick, center Aatu Raty, and netminder Arturs Silovs.

While Sherwood has gone cold in terms of scoring over the past two weeks, it’s unclear whether that will play a role in changing the leaguewide interest in his services. The trade market for established NHLers has been widely characterized as slower than usual, with few teams embracing the role as true sellers.

The fact that the Canucks appear clearly motivated to deal their unrestricted free agents, even established NHLers, makes them unique in the overall trade market landscape of the NHL right now. As a result, it’s likely that the high level of trade interest in Sherwood will likely be immune to the game-to-game fluctuations in his form.

As for where Sherwood might fit in Minnesota, the clear objective for the Wild in pursuing him would be to help address their need for more secondary scoring. Stars Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy are doing a lot of the heavy lifting for the Wild in terms of production, and they’re the only two Wild players with a double-digit goals total so far in 2025-26.

Sherwood would add a third such player to their team, and would give head coach John Hynes a player who could easily slot in on their third line, perhaps in the spot of veteran Yakov Trenin. While Trenin’s salary ($3.55MM AAV) merits more of a third-line role, Trenin has produced like a fourth-liner in Minnesota. He has eight points in 30 games this season and scored just 15 points in 76 games last year.

Whether the Wild are in enough of a need of immediate secondary scoring help to surrender what the Canucks are asking for in exchange for Sherwood is not clear at this time. For as many positive qualities Sherwood brings on the ice, trading a first-round pick as well as a “good roster player” for him is a steep price.

The Wild are already without second-round picks in each of the next two drafts thanks to prior transactions. Consequently, Guerin may need to think carefully before spending another premium draft asset on immediate help.

When it comes to acquiring Sherwood, or any other veteran player for that matter, Minnesota will need to carefully balance the value of immediate help versus the risks of depleting the resources the team’s amateur scouting department, led by Judd Brackett, will have at their disposal next year.

Photos courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Wild Reassign Hunter Haight

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Minnesota Wild reassigned forward Hunter Haight to the AHL’s Iowa Wild with center Danila Yurov back to full health. Haight was recalled on December 1st and didn’t see any game time on this call-up. His last action was with Iowa on November 30th. He has scored four goals and five points in 14 AHL games.
Haight has rotated between rosters as Minnesota’s extra forward all season long. That role earned him the first two games of his NHL career, though he wasn’t able to find the score sheet in either. He scored 20 goals and 34 points in 67 games of his rookie AHL season last year. His scoring totals haven’t jumped off the page just yet but Haight has earned Minnesota’s attention with responsible two-way play from the center role.
Yurov returned from injury with a minus-two in Saturday night’s game. The rookie has slowly worked up the lineup over the year, even appearing on the top-line  as the Wild addressed early season injuries. He hasn’t yet capitalized on the growing role, with seven points and a minus-five in 22 games. Yurov is two seasons removed from 49 points in 62 games of the 2023-24 KHL season, though he fell to 25 points in 46 KHL games last year. The 21-year-old will remain a breakout candidate in his return from injury.

West Notes: Danault, Pettersson, Rossi

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Yesterday evening, Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli reported that “trade chatter is picking up” around Los Angeles Kings pivot Phillip Danault. According to Seravalli, “multiple teams have inquired with LA on his availability,” and Danault could be one of the top centers available on the trade market, assuming the Kings have an appetite to deal him.

Danault, 32, has been one of the league’s more well-regarded defensive centers over the last half-decade or more. He finished seventh in Selke Trophy voting in 2018-19, beginning a streak of five consecutive years where he received votes as the league’s top defensive forward. While he has generally been a consistent offensive presence as a King, good for about 40 to 50 points of production, points have eluded him in 2025-26. Danault has just five points through 28 games this season, and has yet to register a goal.

At 32 years old, it’d be fair to be concerned that Danault’s offensive decline early in the season could be less a cold streak and more a signal of actual age-related decline. Complicating things further is the fact that Danault is under contract for another year at a $5.5MM cap hit, and owns a 10-team no-trade list per the terms of his contract. But if teams view Danault’s decline in production as more of a poor stretch than a sign of more permanent decline, then it’d be understandable that Danault would receive robust interest on the trade market.

Other notes from the Pacific Division:

  • Vancouver Canucks head coach Adam Foote told the media last night, including The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, that center Elias Pettersson is dealing with an injury and is still being evaluated. Foote added that Pettersson will undergo further testing on Sunday, including an MRI. If the Canucks lose Pettersson for any period of time, their chances of winning games would be dealt a significant blow. For as much criticism as Pettersson has received over the last year, he’s upped his production to start 2025-26. He’s scored 22 points in 28 games this season, and while that’s not at the standard he set when he was a 102-point player in 2022-23, it is an improvement in scoring pace over last season.
  • On Thursday, we covered news coming out of Minnesota that Wild center Marco Rossi’s injury recovery was progressing at a slower rate than was initially expected. Today, The Athletic’s Joe Smith relayed word from Wild head coach John Hynes, who said that he still considers Rossi at this point to be out on a week-to-week basis. Rossi has been out since Nov. 11 and has 13 points in 17 games played in 2025-26.

Yurov Back Soon, Rossi's Recovery Slower Than Anticipated

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

  • Wild head coach John Hynes provided a pair of injury updates to reporters, including Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Twitter link). Center Danila Yurov’s return from an undisclosed injury is now imminent although he missed his second straight game tonight.  The 21-year-old rookie has seven points in 21 games in his first NHL campaign.
  • However, the news isn’t as good for fellow pivot Marco Rossi. Hynes shared that he won’t join the team on its four-game road trip.  While he’s skating on his own, his recovery from a lower-body injury will now take longer than initially thought.  Minnesota’s road trip ends on Monday with their next home game scheduled for Thursday.  At that point, Rossi will have been out of the Wild’s lineup for at least a month.  The 24-year-old has 13 points in 17 games so far this season.

Capitals’ Justin Sourdif, John Carlson Out With Injury

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Washington Capitals declared forward Justin Sourdif and defenseman John Carlson as out just minutes before Wendseday night’s game against the San Jose Sharks. Sourdif was a game-time decision and missed warmups. He has a lower-body injury sustained late in Tuesday’s win over Los Angeles. Carlson took warmups but was ultimately forced out by an upper-body injury.

The Capitals returned Nic Down to the lineup in Sourdif’s absence. Dowd was activated off of injured reserve earlier in the day after missing the last eight games with a lower-body injury. He scored five points in 19 games before sustaining the injury. Chisholm has one point, two penalty minutes, and a plus-one in 10 games. He has operated as Washington’s extra defender all year, after posting 12 points and a minus-five in 66 games with the Minnesota Wild last season.

Sourdif is in the midst of a four-game scoring drought after posting four points in four games in mid-November. Even in that slump, he has earned upwards of 17 and 18 minutes of ice time in recent games. He’s beginning to carve out a prominent role in the Capitals’ bottom-six after joining the team in a summer trade that sent a second-round and sixth-round pick back to the Florida Panthers.

Even at 36, Carlson has remained a star defender for the Capitals. He has 23 points in 26 games this season, tied with Jakob Chychrun for most on the blue-line. Carlson has also recorded a plus-10, 38 blocked shots, and 59 shots on goal. He and Chychrun give Washington two strong offensive-defensemen on two different pairings – a big part of what’s earned the Capitals the fourth-most goals (91) in the NHL this season.

Wild’s Tyler Pitlick, Flyers’ Adam Ginning Clear Waivers

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Dec. 1: Both Ginning and Pitlick have cleared waivers, per Friedman. Pitlick is expected to stay on Minnesota’s roster while Ginning is now eligible to return to Lehigh Valley.

Nov. 30: This afternoon, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet shared that Wild veteran Tyler Pitlick has been placed on waivers, along with Flyers defenseman Adam Ginning. 

Pitlick, 34, has been back-and-forth between the AHL and NHL so far this season, most recently being called back up two weeks ago. His status on waivers is mainly due to surpassing the 10-game threshold in the NHL, more than signifying a desire to move on. Signed to a two-year, two-way deal last summer, Pitlick provides depth since joining his hometown organization, as well as experience, as he was a regular NHLer from 2016-2022. Having cleared waivers already earlier in the season after not making the roster, it is most likely he will return to AHL Iowa, where he has scored three goals in five games, and vie for an NHL return again when needed, at a $775k cap hit. In 15 games with Minnesota so far, Pitlick has zero points, but has mixed it up with 22 penalty minutes. 

On the other hand, Ginning offers slightly more intrigue, soon to be 26, as a former second-round selection of Philadelphia in 2018. However, at this point, the 6’3” Swedish defenseman does not have much NHL upside, as he has been surpassed in the Flyers organization by Emil Andrae. This season is thought to likely be his last chance, especially under a new coach in Rick Tocchet, and with pending UFA status. Ginning has skated in five games for the Flyers so far, not recording any stats, and has one goal in 16 total NHL games.

While a team thin on the blueline could pick up Ginning for the short term, it is not likely he offers much more than their own internal options, and most likely, Ginning will rejoin AHL Lehigh Valley to continue his season.  At 11-6-1, the Phantoms would be eager to add such a player back to their lineup as a top defender. 

Wild Recall Hunter Haight

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Wild announced Monday they’ve recalled center Hunter Haight from AHL Iowa. He was sent down on Saturday, but since he got into game action for Iowa last night, he’s eligible to come back up today. Minnesota didn’t fill his roster spot during his two-day absence from the active roster.

Haight will continue serving as a fourth-line/press box option as the Wild continue to deal with a banged-up forward group while trying to squeeze more offense out of their bottom six. He won’t have a particularly clear path to playing time with 14 forwards on the active roster. Tyler Pitlick is on waivers today but is expected to remain with the team if he clears instead of being assigned to Iowa, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports.

His recent demotion was more about getting the 21-year-old playing time. The Wild have done a good job of that while ferrying him between leagues multiple times this year. He’s still managed 14 appearances for Iowa, notching four goals and an assist with a -6 rating. Selected No. 47 overall in the 2022 draft, he projects as a No. 3 center long-term and is a consensus top-15 prospect in Minnesota’s system. He entered the season ranked #9 according to Elite Prospects and #14 according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.

He’s coming off a 20-goal, 34-point showing as a rookie for Iowa in 67 games last year. It may not be an overly impressive showing at face value, but the team’s weak roster meant Haight checked in second on the team in goals and fifth in points.

Despite this being Haight’s fourth recall of the season, he was only in the lineup for Minnesota’s first two games and hasn’t played since. He averaged 9:22 of ice time across the pair of appearances and went without a point, recording a -2 rating. He went 7-for-16 on faceoffs (43.8%), and the Wild lost the shot-attempt battle 28-11 in his 5-on-5 minutes despite some advantageous offensive zone deployment.

While Ryan Hartman and Vladimir Tarasenko have come off injured reserve in recent days, the Wild’s forward group is still missing Marcus Foligno, Vinnie Hinostroza, and top-line center Marco Rossi. Haight certainly won’t factor in when everyone is healthy but in the interim, he’s worked his way up enough on the organization’s depth chart to continue serving as a depth option when required.

Latest On Marco Rossi, Marcus Foligno

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

  • Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes told the media yesterday, including The Athletic’s Joe Smith, that forward Marcus Foligno will not travel with the team for its upcoming four-game road trip. In addition, he said the club is still evaluating whether center Marco Rossi will travel. Foligno is on IR with a lower-body injury and has missed each of the Wild’s last two games. Rossi is also on IR with a lower-body injury but is further along than Foligno by all accounts. He’s missed the Wild’s last eight games, last playing on Nov. 11.

Minnesota Wild Activate Vladimir Tarasenko, Reassign Hunter Haight

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Minnesota Wild announced today that veteran forward Vladimir Tarasenko has been activated off of injured reserve. In a corresponding move, the team reassigned forward Hunter Haight to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

Tarasenko had been on injured reserve since Nov. 20, with his placement made retroactive to Nov. 14. Tarasenko has not appeared in a game since Nov. 11. Tarasenko has been dealing with a lower-body injury, one that has caused him to miss a total of seven games.

Before his injury, Tarasenko had gotten off to a decent start to his Wild tenure. The 33-year-old signed a one-year, $4.75MM deal with the Wild this past summer, coming off of an underwhelming campaign with the Detroit Red Wings. Tarasenko scored 11 goals and 33 points, which are passable numbers for a player operating within a specific role, but are well below the standards Tarasenko set earlier in his career.

Before his injury, Tarasenko had scored 10 points in 18 games for the Wild, which is a 46-point, 82-game pace. That’s a notable improvement over his production from last season, even if it is not quite the kind of production hockey fans grew accustomed to seeing out of Tarasenko during his days as a star winger for the St. Louis Blues.

Getting Tarasenko back is a positive development for a Wild team that has been on a roll recently. They’ve relied heavily on the offensive contributions of a few key players (namely stars Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy) so getting Tarasenko back to full health should help deepen their attack.

As for Haight, his spot on the Wild’s NHL roster is an unfortunate casualty of Tarasenko’s return to health. The 21-year-old was a 2022 second-round pick who earned himself an NHL recall after a solid start to his pro career. 2024-25 was his debut season in the pro ranks, and he impressed scoring 20 goals and 34 points in 67 games. He was never an overwhelming producer during his days in the OHL, so the productive rookie year in the AHL was certainly encouraging.

The Iowa Wild have struggled as a whole to put the puck in the net this season, ranking No. 30 out of 32 teams in the AHL in terms of total goals scored. That’s why while Haight’s production this year (five points in 13 games) doesn’t jump off the page, it’s important to provide context to the environment he’s playing in to help explain why he’s earned this early recall. At the NHL level, Haight played in two games, averaging under 10 minutes of ice time per game.

While he didn’t get the chance to truly make his mark at the NHL level, it’s likely we’ll see Haight back in the NHL at some point down the line. The team at Elite Prospects ranked Haight the No. 9 prospect in the Wild’s system before the season, with scout David St-Louis praising what he saw as Haight’s “hyper-creative style of play.” The hope moving forward for Haight will be that he can help translate that creativity into more steady AHL production, even as Iowa continues to struggle as a team overall.

Looking at things from a financial lens, Haight will want to earn as many recalls as possible in order to place himself in the best position he can to earn a roster spot on the Wild’s 2026-27 NHL roster. Haight’s entry-level contract enters its final year next season, and unlike previous years on his deal, he won’t earn any signing bonus for next season. (He had a $95K signing bonus on his deal for 2025-26.) Because of that, if Haight can’t make it to the NHL roster for next season, he’ll be stuck in the AHL making an $82.5K AHL salary, a significant reduction from his total compensation in each of the last two seasons.

While there’s more motivation to make it to the NHL than just pure salary difference, Haight’s contract situation further emphasizes his need to make a push for more NHL call-ups beyond this most recent one.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top