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Wild Reassign Brendan Gaunce

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The Wild reassigned veteran forward Brendan Gaunce to AHL Iowa today, per a team announcement. He’s been on the roster for most of the past couple of weeks as a depth option up front, but after serving as a healthy scratch Sunday night in Joel Eriksson Ek’s return to the lineup, he’s once again a minor-leaguer.

Gaunce appeared in four games while up in Minny, all of which came with fourth-line usage. He never logged more than 11 minutes of ice time in a game and averaged 9:59 across the quartet of games. The 30-year-old pivot went without a point and posted a -3 rating while taking a pair of minor penalties and recording three shots on goal. The Wild were also out-attempted 51-22 with the journeyman on the ice at even strength.

The appearances marked the fourth straight season in which Gaunce has seen NHL ice, although he hasn’t appeared in more than 25 games since suiting up in 30 with the Blue Jackets in 2021-22. He posted eight points in 35 games in Columbus over the past three seasons before signing in Minnesota as a free agent over the summer, instead spending most of his time in the AHL in Cleveland. As usual, the 6’3″, 214-lb two-way forward was a strong offensive producer at the minor-league level, posting 85 points in 102 games for Cleveland.

While Gaunce has consistently put up impressive totals offensively in juniors and in the minors, it’s never come close to translating to the NHL. A late first-round pick by the Canucks in 2012, Gaunce managed only 15 points in 117 games for Vancouver before they eventually non-tendered him in 2019.

The Ontario native now returns to Iowa, where he’s served as an alternate captain and has 14 points in 21 games this season, good for third on the team. He’s been on the roster for 10 days and played four games since clearing waivers during preseason, so he can be rostered for another 20 days or play six games before he needs them again to head back to the aHL.

Minnesota Wild Activate Joel Eriksson Ek

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After starting the season with a 17-4-4 record through their first 25 games the Minnesota Wild have struggled of late with a 5-6-0 record in their last 11. Minnesota needed a boost in a major way and will get one in the form of top center Joel Eriksson Ek whom the team has activated off the injured reserve.

Minnesota’s fall from the top of the Central Division is directly related to Eriksson Ek’s absence. The team has struggled to find a proper solution down the middle in Eriksson Ek’s absence outside of Marco Rossi. The youngster has been nearly a point-per-game player without Eriksson Ek scoring five goals and nine points in the last 11 games but the Wild don’t have another legitimate top-six center option behind him.

Eriksson Ek’s scoring has depressed this season when healthy with five goals and 13 points in 22 games. That 0.59 point-per-game average is nearly a third lower than what he’s been producing the last few years in Minnesota. Still, Eriksson Ek has provided quality play in the faceoff dot and is very responsible on the defensive side of the puck.

The recent injury will likely hinder Eriksson Ek’s efforts to capture his first Selke Trophy given that he only play a maximum of 68 games this year. He’s finished in the top 10 of Selke votes the last four years and was averaging the highest on-ice save percentage of his career before suffering the lower-body injury.

Eriksson Ek’s absence also raised some important questions for the Wild. It proved that Minnesota lacks depth down the middle which needs to be filled if they have any hopes of competing in the tough Central Division down the stretch. The lingering buyout penalties for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter limit Minnesota to approximately $2MM in deadline cap space making their lives that much harder.

Still, the Wild could trade some salary off the roster such as Zach Bogosian or Jonathon Merrill, and acquire a player with term given that Parise and Suter’s buyout penalties effectively end after this season. Minnesota has already traded away their first-round pick this season in the trade that brought David Jiříček to the organization so that will be another limiting factor heading into deadline season.

Eriksson Ek Could Be Back In Next Two Games

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  • Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek skated today and the team is hopeful he can return to the lineup in one of Minnesota’s next two games, notes Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune (Twitter link). He has missed a little more than three weeks with a lower-body injury and while he was off to a rough start offensively with 13 points in 22 games, he’d be a welcome addition to a Wild group that has struggled in recent weeks.

Kirill Kaprizov Out Day-To-Day

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Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov is missing tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars with a lower-body injury (Twitter link). Kaprizov didn’t travel with the Wild to Dallas and will miss just his second game of the second. The 27-year-old reportedly had some pain heading into the holiday break that is unrelated to the lower-body injury that kept him out of Minnesota’s game on November 23rd.

Kaprizov currently sits fourth in the NHL in points with 50 on the season, and second in goals with 23. His 56 goals in 2024 have him tied with Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart for the most this calendar year. Kaprizov has heated up recently, tallying points in 12 of his last 15 games, including five goals in his last six games.

Minnesota started the season red hot going 16-4-4 in October and November. However, since the calendar switched to December the Wild have cooled off with the season, going a pedestrian 6-6. Despite the December slump, Minnesota remains in second place in the Central Division, five points back of first-place Winnipeg.

The Wild return home Sunday to take on the Ottawa Senators and there is no word yet on whether Kaprizov will play. The 2020-21 Calder Trophy winner has yet to play a full season in the NHL, playing over 80 games just once, back in 2021-22.

Guerin: Wild “Not Looking To Trade” Marco Rossi

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The Wild have received legitimate top-six production this year from 2020 ninth-overall pick Marco Rossi, which Wild general manager Bill Guerin says has taken his name off the trade block after years of speculation, as relayed by Michael Russo of The Athletic.

“I’m very happy with Marco – oh my god, yeah,” Guerin said. “Just his pace of play, his engagement every night, he has been one of our best players. I think the biggest thing, too — and I know this is the hardest thing for young players — is his consistency… He’s doing all the right stuff.”

Rossi has parlayed that consistency into a top-line role between superstar Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello for the vast majority of the season, something that’s surely helped his production at face value. But one could make the argument that spending so much time with Rossi has helped Kaprizov along in his career-best pace, too. The Russian winger is clicking at a career-high 1.47 points per game and leads the league with 20 even-strength goals, all the while spending 22 of his 34 appearances on Rossi’s left flank. Rossi’s emergence has also proved necessary in the absence of No. 2 center Joel Eriksson Ek over the past month with a lower-body injury. Since Eriksson Ek’s last appearance on Dec. 3, Rossi has five goals and three assists in 10 contests while logging well over 20 minutes per game.

That’s made Rossi indispensable for a Wild club with aspirations of a deep playoff run. Now fueled by the next generation, including Rossi and stalwart Brock Faber on the back end, all signs point to them leveraging other assets to improve at the trade deadline instead of flipping Rossi as part of an upgrade for a big fish. With how well he’s performing, on pace for 28 goals and 66 points, it’s doubtful there would even be a veteran upgrade available down the middle on deadline day. Minnesota native Brock Nelson, who’s struggled offensively this season and is only on pace for 47 points, projects as the top center available on the block, Chris Johnston wrote for The Athletic earlier this month.

The question now for Guerin is how many financial resources he’s willing to commit to Rossi, who will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. The Wild have more than $13MM in cap space opening up this summer with a significant reduction in the impact of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, notwithstanding a salary cap increase of at least $4MM. That means they won’t have any issues acclimating a heavy raise on a potential long-term deal over the summer, but keeping an eye out for a multi-million dollar bump on Kaprizov’s current $9MM AAV contract that expires in 2026 remains paramount.

Wild Recall Brendan Gaunce, Devin Shore

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Dec. 27: Both Gaunce and Shore are back on the Wild roster ahead of their road trip, the team announced Thursday night. Their active roster now stands at 22 players.

Dec. 24: The Wild announced Tuesday that they’ve reassigned forwards Brendan Gaunce and Devin Shore to AHL Iowa. Their spots on the active roster will remain open over the holiday break, and the pair of demotions will allow them to exit their LTIR pool and begin accruing cap space again over the next few days. One or both could find themselves back on the roster for Friday’s game against the Stars, depending on the health of injured forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Jakub Lauko.

Gaunce inked a two-year, two-way deal in free agency and was recalled from Iowa last week after clearing waivers during training camp. He has no points in three appearances with an unsightly -3 rating given his limited ice time. The veteran Gaunce has also fallen a tad short of expectations in the AHL, posting eight goals, six assists, 14 points, and a -10 rating in 21 games. He’s producing just 0.67 points per game after clicking at 0.83 over the past three seasons in Cleveland while with the Blue Jackets organization.

Throughout his career, the now-30-year-old Gaunce has been an expert top-six producer in minor-league action but has never carved out anything above a fringe fourth-line role at the NHL level. In 180 appearances in parts of nine seasons with Vancouver, Boston, Columbus, and Minnesota, Gaunce has 13 goals, 15 assists, 28 points, and a -16 rating while averaging 10:43 per contest. He had a career-high five goals and seven points in 30 games with the Jackets in 2021-22.

Shore, 30, signed a two-way deal over the summer and, like Gaunce, failed to secure a depth role out of camp. He’s passed through waivers twice this season without being claimed and has one assist in 16 games for Minnesota over the past month or so, locking down a more steady fourth-line role for the time being with injuries affecting their forward group. He’s averaged 8:14 per contest and has 19 hits, but he has been a pretty apparent defensive liability. The Wild only control 37.6% of shot attempts with Shore on the ice at 5-on-5.

Islanders’ Brock Nelson Unlikely To Sign Extension

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Brock Nelson’s 12-year tenure on Long Island will likely end by the time next summer rolls around. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic writes Thursday that he believes Nelson “intends to test free agency on July 1,” upping the likelihood of the Islanders dealing the pending unrestricted free agent by the trade deadline if they don’t put themselves back in playoff position by then.

Nelson’s production hasn’t been what we’re used to seeing from him in 2024-25. With 10 goals and 20 points through 35 games, he’s on pace for 47 points over an 82-game schedule. On a per-game basis, that would be his worst offensive showing since the 2017-18 campaign. Given he’s now 33 years old, there’s also legitimate concern whether he can recapture the form that led to three straight 30-goal seasons from 2021-22 to 2023-24.

Part of that decline has been fueled by an 11% shooting rate, which would be decent for many players but abnormally low by Nelson’s standards. Throughout his 875-game NHL career, he’s usually hovered around his career average of 14.2% without much variation. He’s tracking to shoot at his lowest success rate since his first two seasons in the league. It’s also been fueled by a 12-game goalless skid, during which he has just three assists. He had 10 goals and 17 points through his first 24 outings before ending up at today’s totals.

But with the Islanders two games back of .500 and coming off perhaps their worst game of the season right before the holiday break, a 7-1 drubbing at home at the hands of the Sabres, whether they’ll be in playoff position by deadline day is becoming less of a debate. MoneyPuck puts the Isles’ playoff odds at 5.8% at the time of writing, Hockey Reference gives them a 10.4% shot, while The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn gives them a far more optimistic 34% chance, boosted by a weak middle-of-the-pack group in this year’s Metropolitan Division.

That means there’s likely too much runway left in the Islanders’ season for general manager Lou Lamoriello to throw in the towel. If history is any indicator, that’s a necessary prerequisite for the club to seriously consider trading Nelson instead of trying to hammer out a deal up until July 1. On the other hand, Nelson said during training camp that he was open to having in-season talks about an extension. Either Those haven’t happened or they haven’t been particularly productive, evidently leading him to focus on his options over the summer.

And if he’s genuinely intent on testing the market, not just finding a new home, that’ll impact his trade value by the deadline. Even at Nelson’s age, Lamoriello won’t be able to land a huge return for him without a team being reasonably confident they’ll retain him for more than just a few months. Nelson also holds a 16-team no-trade list, so if there’s a buyer he’s not interested in joining, he could veto those deals.

LeBrun and Chris Johnston speculated that the Stars and Wild are potential deadline destinations for Nelson. Both also make sense as free-agent landing spots. Minnesota could likely only acquire Nelson at 50% retention ($3MM cap hit) without moving out a salary. Still, they have over $13MM in cap space opening up this summer, thanks to the reduction of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyout penalties. That figure doesn’t include a projected salary cap increase of at least $4MM, making them well-positioned to have productive extension talks with star Kirill Kaprizov, who’s set to become a UFA in 2026 while being one of the most prominent players on this summer’s UFA market. Nelson, whose age and declining production likely don’t warrant a raise on his current $6MM cap hit on a short-to-mid-term deal, would complement Joel Eriksson Ek and Marco Rossi down the middle quite nicely and would likely have interest in returning to his home state. The Stars, meanwhile, project to have far more financial flexibility at the trade deadline but less so over the summer.

Wild Activate Yakov Trenin From Injured Reserve

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The Wild will have winger Yakov Trenin’s services for tonight’s game against the Blackhawks. The team announced this morning that he’s been activated from injured reserve, ending a nine-day absence due to an upper-body injury.

Trenin, 27, became an unrestricted free agent for the first time last summer and landed a four-year, $14MM contract with Minnesota. The 6’2″ Russian forward was a second-round pick of the Predators in 2015 and spent his entire career there until last year’s trade deadline when he was flipped to the Avalanche as a rental.

Unfortunately, Trenin hasn’t come as advertised. Usually a decent secondary option offensively in a checking role, he has just two goals and an assist in 29 showings this year. He’s averaging 13:37 per game, which is his lowest usage since his rookie season, although he ranks second on the team with 82 hits. That physical play hasn’t translated to two-way dominance, as Minnesota only controls 44.4% of shot attempts with Trenin on the ice at 5-on-5. That’s the lowest such share of his NHL career.

He’ll return to the lineup in a fourth-line role with AHL call-ups Ben Jones and Devin Shore, Daily Faceoff projects. That’s a demotion from where he spent most of the year prior to his injury, skating as the third-line right wing alongside Marcus Foligno and Frédérick Gaudreau. The reduction in role also comes despite Minnesota still being without two regular forwards, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jakub Lauko, due to lower-body injuries.

The Wild freed up the roster spot for Trenin’s activation yesterday by assigning Travis Boyd and Jesper Wallstedt to the AHL. As expected, they’re also getting netminder Filip Gustavsson, who’s missed four games with a lower-body issue, back today against Chicago, reports Jessi Pierce of NHL.com.

Wild Reassign Travis Boyd, Jesper Wallstedt

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The Wild have returned forward Travis Boyd and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to AHL Iowa, per the team’s public relations staff. The move leaves them with two open active roster spots and no extra forwards for tomorrow’s game against the Blackhawks, suggesting one of their injured reserve-bound forwards, either Joel Eriksson Ek or Yakov Trenin, might be able to return to the lineup, as Michael Russo of The Athletic relays.

Boyd, 31, was recalled Friday for Minnesota’s back-to-back against Utah and the Jets. It was the veteran’s fourth summons of the season after clearing training camp. None of his recalls have lasted for an extended period of time, with the longest totaling nine days in late November. That’s meant he’s been able to avoid hitting waivers again when the Wild return him to the minors since he hasn’t accumulated enough days on the active roster nor NHL appearances to make his temporary exemption expire.

The Minnesota native was scratched for Friday’s loss to Utah but entered the lineup for last night’s 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Winnipeg, posting a blocked shot in 8:08 of ice time in what was his third NHL appearance of the season and his first since Nov. 27. The 2011 sixth-round pick of the Capitals has averaged a career-low 7:48 per game when dressed, going without a shot on goal and skating on the wing while starting a whopping 88.9% of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone. That’s naturally led to some pretty horrid possession numbers. The Wild have only controlled 23.5% of shot attempts and 20% of expected goals with Boyd on the ice, but in such a small and biased sample, those numbers shouldn’t be read into much.

The right-shot forward has never posted very favorable possession metrics, though. This far into his professional career, he is what he is – a valuable depth scorer in limited minutes who’s currently being miscast in a defensive role. With forwards ahead of him on the depth chart returning to health, he’ll return to Iowa, where he leads the club in scoring with 18 points in 17 games in his first AHL action since the 2019-20 campaign.

Boyd has averaged 13 goals and 32 points per 82 games throughout his eight-year NHL career, including a career-high 17 goals and 35 points in 74 games three years ago with the Coyotes. After spending most of last season with Arizona on injured reserve with a pectoral muscle tear, he signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Wild when free agency opened to return to his home state for the first time since his senior season at the University of Minnesota a decade ago.

Wallstedt’s demotion suggests Filip Gustavsson could be ready to return to the crease, at least in a backup role, after missing the last four games with a lower-body issue. He never landed on IR, so Minnesota has continuously considered him day-to-day throughout his absence. Wallstedt, the Wild’s top goaltending prospect, allowed five goals on 24 shots against the Jets last night in his second start of the season. It’s been a difficult year for the 22-year-old Swede, who now has a .843 SV% in his two NHL appearances and a subpar .874 mark in 12 AHL games.

That stark regression comes after Wallstedt was an AHL All-Star each of the last two seasons, prompting Minnesota to sign the 2021 20th overall pick to a two-year, $4.4MM extension in October. At least for now, the stumbling Wild will be ecstatic to get Gustavsson’s services back instead. The 26-year-old has returned to his 2022-23 form, logging a stellar .922 SV%, 2.24 GAA, and two shutouts in 22 starts.

Wild Place Yakov Trenin On IR, Recall Devin Shore, Travis Boyd

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Dec. 20: Shore is back on the active roster today, as is forward Travis Boyd, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. Boyd made a pair of appearances with the Wild last month amid one of a couple of recalls this season, averaging just 7:39 per game and controlling an abysmal 21.9% of shot attempts at even strength. The 31-year-old leads Iowa in scoring this season with 18 points (3 G, 15 A) in 17 games and has nearly 300 games of NHL experience under his belt with the Coyotes, Capitals, Maple Leafs and Canucks in addition to his brief stint in Minnesota. The Wild’s active roster is now full.

Dec. 19: The Wild made a pair of roster moves in advance of their next game against Utah on Friday.  The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Yakov Trenin has been placed on injured reserve while winger Devin Shore has been assigned to AHL Iowa.

Trenin has missed three straight games due to an upper-body injury.  Assuming this placement is back-dated, he’ll be eligible to return as soon as this weekend.  The 27-year-old is in his first season with Minnesota after signing a four-year, $14MM contract with them back in free agency, a move that hasn’t worked as well as anyone would have hoped.

After putting up double-digit goals in each of the last three years, Trenin has struggled considerably offensively this season, lighting the lamp just twice while adding one assist in 29 games.  While he sits second on the team in hits with 82, it’s safe to say that GM Bill Guerin was expecting more from his biggest free agent addition from July.

As for Shore, he cleared waivers on Tuesday but stayed with Minnesota for a couple of extra days and played last night against Florida.  He has played in 13 NHL contests so far but has been held off the scoresheet while averaging a little over eight minutes a night.  The veteran has been a strong contributor with Iowa, however, notching two goals and eight assists in 14 appearances with them.

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