Wild Have Shown Some Interest In Kotkaniemi
- After moving out a young center as part of the return for Quinn Hughes, it appears the Wild are keeping tabs on another young middleman. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that Minnesota is a team that’s believed to have some interest in Hurricanes center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, though he’s not viewed as their top choice to add down the middle. Kotkaniemi is believed to be getting shopped by the team, recognizing that he needs a change of scenery after recording just seven points in 29 games so far this season. However, the 25-year-old still has four years left on his deal after this one with a $4.82MM cap charge, a price tag the Wild can’t afford at the moment.
Johansson Not On Road Trip, Boldy To Miss A Week Or Two
The injuries just keep piling up for Minnesota. Already missing several key regulars, Marcus Johansson can now be added to the list as Michael Russo of The Athletic reports (Twitter links) that the veteran is among the list of players who aren’t with the team on their three-game road trip that began this afternoon. The 35-year-old is dealing with a lower-body injury. Johansson has had a resurgent season, notching 13 goals and 21 assists in 46 games, matching his point total from 2024-25 in 26 fewer appearances. With his absence, the Wild are now without their entire second line for this trip.
Wild Place Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy On IR
The Minnesota Wild are again dealing with multiple injuries. The Wild announced that they’ve placed forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy on the injured reserve.
Additionally, Minnesota has made multiple roster moves. In the same announcement, the team shared that they’ve recalled Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Hunter Haight, and David Jiříček to the NHL, while returning Carson Lambos to the AHL’s Iowa Wild.
Assuming the Wild makes Eriksson Ek’s placement retroactive to January 8th, he’s eligible to be activated as soon as he’s healthy. Still, since the team opted to place him on the injured reserve today, there’s little chance he’ll be in the lineup tomorrow against the Buffalo Sabres. He’s been dealing with a lower-body injury for the past week.
Already perusing the trade market for a second-line center, Eriksson Ek’s exit from the lineup has been a major detriment to the team. In the three games he has missed, Minnesota has lost all of them while collecting only one point. Typically in a top-six role, Eriksson Ek has scored 11 goals and 32 points in 45 games for the Wild this season while having a 49.7% success rate in the faceoff dot.
Meanwhile, arguably the larger concern is that Boldy will have to miss the next four games. Since Boldy seemingly suffered an undisclosed injury in Minnesota’s recent game against the Winnipeg Jets, he won’t be eligible to return until next Friday.
After skating in 203 consecutive games, the Wild will now move forward with one of their best offensive forces. Throughout 48 games this season, Boldy led the team in goal-scoring with 27 tallies and sat one point behind Kirill Kaprizov for the overall team lead.
Neither Aube-Kubel nor Haight will help Minnesota make up for the loss of offense. The two have combined for one assist across six games for the Wild this season. Still, in their defense, they’ve remained relatively productive with AHL Iowa this season, with the latter ranked third on the team in scoring with seven goals and 17 points in 31 games.
Wild Place Jonas Brodin On IR, Recall Carson Lambos
1:30 p.m.: As expected, the Wild announced that they’ve placed Brodin on injured reserve due to the lower-body ailment. Additionally, the team has recalled defenseman Carson Lambos from AHL Iowa in a corresponding roster move.
1:00 p.m.: The Minnesota Wild are again losing a top-four defenseman for the foreseeable future. According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, defenseman Jonas Brodin is set to miss the next few weeks with a lower-body injury.
Russo articulated that Brodin’s lower-body ailment didn’t come from a specific play. He asserted that this is related to the lower-body issue that caused Brodin to miss nine days in mid-December and has been nagging him since then. The 14-year veteran has already missed five games for the Wild this year.
Given that Minnesota has six games in the next week and a half, Brodin is in danger of failing to cross the 70-games played plateau for the fourth straight year. The oft-injured blue liner has only appeared in 73% of the Wild’s regular-season contests since the 2022-23 campaign. He is signed through the 2027-28 season at a $6MM cap hit.
Still, when healthy, he’s one of Minnesota’s best defenders. Throughout the last four injury-plagued campaigns, Brodin has scored 17 goals and 76 points in 214 games with a +58 rating. At even strength, he has averaged a 91.6% on-ice save percentage while beginning most of his shifts in the defensive zone.
Furthermore, Brodin’s current injury could have negative consequences for Team Sweden during the 2026 Olympic Games. He scored one goal in three games for the Swedes during last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, and seven points in 10 games during the IIHF World Championships.
Meanwhile, Brodin’s absence will allow one Wild defenseman to make his NHL debut this evening. Yesterday evening, Minnesota recalled prospect David Spacek from the AHL’s Iowa Wild, and he’s expected to be in the lineup this evening. The 22-year-old has scored three goals and 19 points in 35 games for AHL Iowa this year.
Minnesota Wild Recall David Spacek
The Minnesota Wild announced today that defenseman David Spacek has been recalled from their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
The move gives the Wild seven healthy defensemen on their active roster. Veteran Zach Bogosian, who is normally a regular fixture on their blueline, is on IR with an undisclosed injury.
This isn’t Spacek’s first recall to the Wild’s NHL roster this season. His last recall came in December, but lasted just a day. He was also recalled in November, but didn’t dress there either, serving as a healthy scratch for two games. In total, Spacek has served as a healthy scratch for three NHL games this season, and is still awaiting the chance to make his NHL debut.
Perhaps the chance for Spacek to debut for the Wild will come on this recall. 23-year-old Daemon Hunt is currently playing on the right side of Minnesota’s third pairing, but is averaging just 12:25 time on ice per game. It’s possible head coach John Hynes might give Spacek a look in that role, seeing as Spacek is a right-shot defenseman and has been a steady two-way top-four contributor at the AHL level. In 35 AHL games this season, Spacek ranks second in scoring in Iowa with 19 points. He led Iowa blueliners in scoring last season as well, managing 31 points in 72 games.
In any case, even if Spacek once again remains a healthy scratch for this recall, he won’t leave empty-handed whenever he is reassigned back to Iowa. His entry-level deal, which is set to expire this upcoming summer, carries a $775K base salary compared to a $80K AHL salary, meaning he receives a sizable pay bump for whatever time he can spend in the NHL with the Wild.
Minnesota Wild Reassign Matt Kiersted
According to a team announcement, the Minnesota Wild have reassigned depth defenseman Matt Kiersted to the AHL’s Iowa Wild. The transaction indicates that veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian could return to the lineup on Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets.
Despite being on the active roster for more than a month, Kiersted has hardly been utilized by the Wild. Minnesota has dealt with multiple injuries on the blue line throughout that stretch. However, they’ve typically had at least six healthy defenseman available, leading to many nights in the press box for Kiersted.
Kiersted, 27, signed a two-year, $1.55MM contract with the Wild last summer. Throughout his recall, he appeared in four games, registering one assist and a -1 rating while averaging 13:42 of ice time per game.
Still, he was likely brought in to stabilize AHL Iowa’s defensive core. He was coming off his best professional season to date, scoring one goal and 29 points in 64 games with an excellent +34 rating. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to provide that when he’s been on the AHL roster.
In fact, he’s on pace for one of his worst seasons in the AHL. The Elk River, MN native has registered only three assists in 23 games with a -12 rating on the year. Despite missing the last month, his +/- remains one of the worst on the team among defensemen.
Central Notes: Bedard, Wild, Blues
Chicago Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard will not play tonight against Edmonton, as noted by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, as the star is dealing with the flu.
The bug has ravaged the team of late, as several players have been affected, most notably both goaltenders, Spencer Knight and Arvid Söderblom, leaving Chicago with AHL call-up Drew Commesso to handle a back-to-back last week. He managed to steal a game, shutting out Nashville on Saturday, but now the face of the franchise has to sit out tonight in a big home game against the Oilers.
Bedard leads the Hawks with 46 points, despite playing in 33 of their 45 games. He has surpassed the point-per-game mark for the first time in his young career, as well as avoiding a sunk +/- rating as the Hawks have had success this season. The hope is that he will be feeling better by their next game, Thursday against Calgary. In the meantime, grinder Colton Dach slots back into the lineup on the fourth line, who has posted eight points in 44 games on the season.
Elsewhere across the division:
- Joel Eriksson Ek and Zach Bogosian skated earlier today, as shared by Michael Russo of The Athletic, but neither are playing tonight against the Devils. Eriksson Ek was injured against Seattle last Thursday, missing Saturday’s contest against the Islanders, the first time he was unable to go this season. The center plays a vital role on both ends of the ice, with 32 points in 45 games, and hopefully can return by Thursday against Winnipeg. On the other hand, Bogosian is on injured reserve. The 35-year-old hasn’t played since January 3, dealing with an undisclosed ailment.
- St. Louis Blues Head Coach Jim Montgomery told reporters, including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, that Robert Thomas is “probable/questionable” for Tuesday against Carolina. Thomas has a lower-body injury, missing practice today as a result, but he hasn’t lost any game time, posting a goal and an assist on Saturday. Playing in 42 of the club’s 46 contests so far, Thomas leads the Blues in scoring by a wide margin, with 33 points. Losers of three in a row, St. Louis currently ranks dead last in goals scored, in obvious need of their top center to try and make the postseason this spring. Meanwhile, teammate Mathieu Joseph is also day-to-day with an elbow infection, as reported by Rutherford. Joseph has 10 points in 35 games as a bottom six forward.
Latest On Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman
Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek suffered a lower-body injury against the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 8, and missed his team’s game Saturday against the New York Islanders. Per The Athletic’s Joe Smith, Eriksson Ek’s injury is “considered minor,” and the team will likely have an update on his status on Monday. He’s currently out on a day-to-day timeline, and it appears unlikely that will change.
From the Wild’s perspective, they are likely counting themselves lucky that Eriksson Ek is only facing a minor absence. The 28-year-old is the Wild’s best center, a status made all the more important due to the team’s trade of Marco Rossi to the Vancouver Canucks. The trade of Rossi, who scored 60 points last season, has left the Wild somewhat thin down the middle, though the continued growth of Danila Yurov has helped. Eriksson Ek has scored 32 points in 45 games this season and leads all Wild forwards in short-handed time on ice per game.
- Dodging a significant injury to Eriksson Ek isn’t the only good fortune the Wild have received in recent days. Veteran forward Ryan Hartman temporarily left yesterday’s game against the Islanders after blocking a shot on his left ankle, but he ultimately was able to return to the game, and Wild head coach John Hynes told the media, per Smith, that Hartman “seemed okay.” Hartman ranks No. 6 among Wild forwards in time on ice per game this season, and has 11 goals, 18 points this season. The 31-year-old is under contract at a $4MM AAV through 2026-27.
Wild Recall Ben Jones, Place Zach Bogosian On IR
With Joel Eriksson Ek dealing with an undisclosed injury sustained on Thursday, the Wild needed some depth up front. That will come from winger Ben Jones as the team announced that they’ve recalled him from AHL Iowa. To make room on the roster, defenseman Zach Bogosian has been placed on injured reserve according to Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Jones has spent the bulk of this season in Minnesota. The 26-year-old has played in 20 games, predominantly on their fourth line. However, while he has brought plenty of physicality with 47 hits, he’s still looking for his first point. That extends to his previous NHL stints as Jones has zero points in 48 career NHL appearances, all but two coming with Minnesota over the past two seasons.
That hasn’t been the case in the minors, however. Jones has three goals and three assists in eight games with Iowa and is coming off a 13-goal, 36-point showing in 2024-25. Jones cleared waivers in mid-December and has only been up for two days and played in one game so his 10-game, 30-day exemption clock largely remains intact.
As for Bogosian, he has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. Assuming the placement is back-dated, he’ll be eligible to be activated as soon as Minnesota needs him as he’ll have already served the seven-day requirement. The 35-year-old has played in 23 games this season, picking up a goal and three assists while averaging 14:52 per night of ice time.
Wild Place Matt Kiersted On Waivers
Earlier this week, the Wild ran veteran Tyler Pitlick through waivers without sending him down, simply to restart his 10-game, 30-day exemption period. It appears they’re doing that once again as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that defenseman Matt Kiersted is on waivers.
The 27-year-old is in his first season with Minnesota after signing a two-year, two-way contract (carrying a $775K AAV) with them on the second day of free agency last summer. A veteran of 41 NHL appearances heading into the season, the expectation was that he’d be a key piece in Iowa and a serviceable performer in a depth role if needed with the big club.
So far, things have largely played out that way. Kiersted has played in 23 games with Iowa this season and while his offensive numbers aren’t anything to get excited about with just three assists, he played a big role, especially defensively. That earned him a recall in the second week of December and he has been with Minnesota since then.
Playing time has been hard to come by since joining Minnesota as Kiersted has only played in four games so far. He has an assist and five blocked shots in those outings while picking up five blocked shots in 13:42 per night of ice time. While he hasn’t reached the 10-game mark, he has been up for 30 days, meaning his waiver exemption has expired.
Assuming that Kiersted passes through unclaimed for the second time this season (the other was in training camp), Minnesota can either keep him up in the reserve role he has been filling lately or return him to Iowa and open up some additional salary cap and roster flexibility.