Wild Recall Seven Players
The Minnesota Wild have stocked their cupboard of black aces as Game 2 of the first round approaches. Minnesota has recalled forwards Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Hunter Haight, and Ben Jones; defensemen Carson Lambos and David Spacek; and goaltenders Riley Mercer and Chase Wutzke from the AHL per Michael Russo of The Athletic. The cohort will move to the NHL after the AHL’s Iowa Wild missed out on the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs.
The trio of forwards were the only ones to score multiple points in the NHL this season. Jones filled a routine role on Minnesota’s fourth line. He racked up three points while playing a career-high 28 NHL games, and added 32 points in 37 AHL games. Aube-Kubel and Haight spent the bulk of their seasons in the minors. Both scored two points in six and nine games, respectively. Aube-Kubel also filled a major presence in the AHL, where his 15 goals and 37 points in 62 games ranked second on Iowa in scoring. He was a main puck-mover for the minor-league Wild. Haight filled a more well-rounded role en route to 18 goals and 32 points in 54 games. He was a depth defensive center for Minnesota through a series of injury-related recalls. All three players will bring familiarity with Minnesota’s bottom six to the playoff race, but still aren’t likely to step into the lineup without an injury higher up on the depth chart.
Spacek was also a notable member of Iowa this season. He led the defense in scoring with 36 points in 59 games. It was a notable step forward for the third-year pro, marked by Spacek looking noticeably more confident on both sides of the puck. The 23-year-old also played the first two NHL games of his career this season, but managed no scoring and a minus-one. Even with limited experience, Spacek could have a leg up on former first-round pick Lambos, who only reached 19 points in 70 AHL games this season. Lambos also made his NHL debut this season, and recorded a plus-one, but he was quickly sent back to the minor leagues.
While the quartet of skaters size up their NHL experience, the pair of goalie call-ups will prepare for their first chance to make an impact on the Minnesota roster. Neither Mercer nor Wutzke played in the NHL this season. In fact, the duo only combined for nine AHL games on the year. Mercer spent the bulk of the year starting for the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders, where he posted 14 wins and a .892 save percentage in 40 games. He tacked on four wins and a .899 Sv% in eight AHL games. Wutzke moved to the AHL following the end of his fifth season in the WHL earlier this year. He racked up 16 wins and a .898 Sv% across 47 games in the WHL, then allowed six goals on 37 shots in his AHL debut. The duo aren’t likely to be called upon unless absolutely necessary but bring just enough experience to help Minnesota shore up their postseason depth chart.
Minnesota took Game 1 against the Dallas Stars by a confident 6-1 score. Their lineup fired on all cylinders, spurred along by the performance of their star scorers. They will look to repeat that feat in Monday night’s Game 2, with a few more faces watching from the press box.
Morning Notes: Maatta, Martone, Faber
Flames defenseman Olli Määttä is the first NHLer officially named to Finland’s roster for next month’s World Championship, according to an announcement from the national program. The tournament kicks off in Switzerland on May 15. It will be the shutdown rearguard’s fourth appearance for his country at the Worlds and his first since 2024.
While he went to the event three times in a four-year span, his only miss in that frame coincided with the country’s most recent gold medal in 2022. Now a fixture on the national team, Määttä has donned Finland’s colors at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off as well as this year’s Winter Olympics. He took home a silver medal with Finland at the 2021 Worlds. He has a 1-9–10 scoring line and a +3 rating in 26 career games at the event.
After sitting most of the season in the Mammoth’s press box, Calgary picked him up as a contract dump in the MacKenzie Weegar trade. The 31-year-old excelled down the stretch, averaging 22:30 per night on a paper-thin Flames blue line while potting 14 points and a -1 rating in 21 games. All of that offense came at even strength, as well. Signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of $3.5MM, he’ll be an everyday option once again next season in a Calgary pool largely devoid of long-term impact lefties outside of top-pair fixture Kevin Bahl and the emerging Yan Kuznetsov.
More from around the league as the first Game 2s of the first round get underway tonight:
- Flyers winger Porter Martone‘s arrival has been one of the best stories over the past few weeks. The 2025 sixth overall pick finished his season with 10 points through his first nine career games following his exodus from Michigan State, and he followed that up with the game-winning goal Saturday for the Flyers’ first postseason victory in six years. Yesterday, he told Kevin Kurz of The Athletic that he’s been relying on support from a close friend and another standout rookie – Islanders Calder Trophy shoo-in Matthew Schaefer – for advice throughout the year. He credits those talks for helping him exhibit the confidence he’s put on display thus far. “I think the big thing that made him successful was, he was himself,” Martone told Kurz. “You see how much of an impact he made on that organization, how much he contributed to that team. For me, that’s what I try to do coming here. Just be who I am, as a player and as a person.”
- Wild defenseman Brock Faber was initially quite unhappy with the organization’s decision to sit him for “forced rest” for the final two games of the regular season, but he’s quickly changed his tune on that following their Game 1 win over the Stars on Saturday, he tells The Athletic’s Michael Russo. “I think everyone was kind of in the same boat there, where you hate to watch the game from the stands but when you get told that’s what you’re doing, I think you can kind of look at it one of two ways,” Faber said. “We did take advantage of the rest. Obviously, it’s been a long year for us and we just needed to do everything we could to prepare for this series and hopefully a long run here. So I think that’s what we did, and it was definitely beneficial.” Faber recorded his first career playoff point in the win, along with a league-high +4 rating.
Zach Bogosian Returns From Injury
- Veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian made his return to the lineup in the Minnesota Wild’s blowout win over the Dallas Stars (via Michael Russo of The Athletic). Bogosian, 35, had been nursing a lower-body injury from the Wild’s April 4th matchup against the Ottawa Senators. He skated in 13:01 of today’s game, blocking two shots and delivering two hits.
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At Least Eight Teams To Carry Overage Penalty Into 2026-27
The NHL adds contract performance bonuses to the salary cap hit of each team at the end of the season. Any price over the salary cap is carried over to the team’s cap hit in the following season. Performance bonuses are broken up into two categories. A-level bonuses are paid out for reaching set numbers of goals, assists, points, plus-minus, or time on ice per-game. End-of-season accolades, such as an All-Star or All-Team nomination, are also A-level bonuses. B-level bonuses are worth up to $2MM and can include leaderboard rankings, minimum stats reached, or award wins. More details about performance bonuses can be found on PuckPedia.
At least NHL teams will carry an overage penalty into the 2026-27 season per PuckPedia. That number is down from 11 in the 2025-26 season and 15, an NHL record, in the 2024-25 season. This year’s list includes:
New York Islanders: $3.5MM
The Islanders paid out every last bit of rookie phenom Matthew Schaefer‘s potential $3.5MM performance bonus. He was awarded $1MM for his per-game scoring and ice time, then earned an additional $2.5MM by finishing in the top-10 of defensemen scoring. The Islanders utilized long-term injured reserve to exceed the salary cap at the end of the season. That will leave all of Schaefer’s performance bonus as overage headed into next season.
Colorado Avalanche: $2.29MM
Colorado lands an overage penalty thanks to Brent Burns‘ performance on an age-35+ contract. Burns had a potential for $4MM in performance bonuses on his deal and earned $3MM of that by playing in 10 games this season. Colorado utilized LTIR earlier in the year but finished the season with a little more than $700K in cap space. That space will help offset the cost of Burns’ bonuses just a bit, though Colorado will still carry a penalty into 2026-27.
Dallas Stars: $2.08-$3.08MM
The Dallas Stars paid out $80K in bonus to Justin Hryckowian for reaching 70 games this season. Captain Jamie Benn also earned $2MM of a potential $3MM in bonuses for playing in 50 games. That includes appearing in the season finale, which netted him $500K on its own. Benn has the potential to earn an additional $1MM in bonus – $500K each if Dallas wins the Western Conference Finals and Stanley Cup. That will sit the Stars with just over $2MM in overage currently and the potential for $3MM if they win it all.
Montreal Canadiens: $1.93-2.07MM
The Montreal Canadiens finished the year with less than $50K in cap space, in part thanks to their mid-season acquisition of Phillip Danault. Rookie Ivan Demidov landed $1MM in bonuses, of a potential $2MM, for his per-game scoring and ice time totals. Oliver Kapanen also earned $250K in bonuses for his per-game totals. He could earn an additional $137.5K if he is named to the NHL All-Rookie Team – a feat that seems unlikely with rookie forwards like Demidov, Beckett Sennecke, Benjamin Kindel, and Jimmy Snuggerud also in the running. Montreal also paid out $400K in bonuses to star defenseman Lane Hutson for a variety of reasons and $80K to rookie goalie Jacob Fowler for reaching 10 games. They will sit just shy of $2MM in overage penalty and could crest that mark if Kapanen earns all-team honors.
Ottawa Senators: $0-1.41MM
The Ottawa Senators will have to sign some big checks if they go on a playoff run. They have already paid out $1MM to Claude Giroux, and $750K to Lars Eller, for playing in 60 games and reaching the postseason. Giroux will earn an additional $500K if Ottawa wins in the first round – a cost that would be absorbed by their end-of-year cap space. But Giroux and Eller will also be eligible for $250K in bonuses if Ottawa wins the second round, and Giroux can net an additional $500K for wins in each of the Eastern Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals. That will leave Ottawa with four potential outcomes: no overage penalty, $414K in overage penalty (third-round loss), $914K in overage penalty (Stanley Cup Final loss), or $1.414MM in overage penalty (Stanley Cup win).
New Jersey Devils: $1.25MM
The Devils paid out two bonuses that pushed them into the red. Young defenseman Simon Nemec earned $750K in bonuses for his scoring, plus-minus, and ice time per-game totals. Winger Evgenii Dadonov landed $500K for scoring at least one point, $250K for playing in 10 games, and an additional $250K for reaching 20 games. He did not play in his 20th game of the season until March 29th, earning the 37 year old a late-season chip. Now, the Devils will carry more than $1MM in overage penalty into next season.
San Jose Sharks: $918.7K
The San Jose Sharks finished the year with $4.8MM in cap space but still land on the list of overage penalties. Much of that is thanks to their young stars. Macklin Celebrini earned every bit of his $3.5MM in potential bonuses with his franchise record-setting scoring. Will Smith earned $1MM, and William Eklund earned $450K, in bonuses for their scoring and ice time per-game. Those marks also earned Sam Dickinson $250K and Collin Graf reached his contract cap of $500K in bonuses. That amounts to $5.425MM, pushing the Sharks into the red for next season.
Edmonton Oilers: $250K
The Edmonton Oilers will face their second-straight season with $250K in overage penalty next year. This time, it is a result of rookie Matthew Savoie, who earned $250K with his ice time per-game. Edmonton finished the year utilizing LTIR to exceed the salary cap.
Florida Panthers: $150K
Defenseman Jeff Petry earned $150K in bonuses for reaching 50 games played with the Florida Panthers before the Trade Deadline. He earned an additional $60K for reaching 60 games, though that bonus came after his trade to the Minnesota Wild.
Photo courtesy of Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Wild Recall Ben Jones, Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Wednesday: Jones and Aube-Kubel's stints were short-lived, as expected. The team announced that those two, along with center Hunter Haight, were all sent back to Iowa. All three players picked up a point on Tuesday against Anaheim.
Monday: After recalling a pair of depth players yesterday, the Minnesota Wild are again adding more reinforcements for their final two games of the regular season. The Wild
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