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Wild Sign Goaltender Samuel Hlavaj To Two-Year Deal

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The Minnesota Wild have signed goaltender Samuel Hlavaj to a two-year, entry-level contract (Twitter link). Hlavaj served as the starting netminder for HC Plzeň of the Czechia Extraliga last season, after spending 2021 and 2022 with HC Slovan organization in Slovakia. With this deal, Hlavaj will return to America for the second time – after spending three years in the USHL and QMJHL between 2018 and 2021.

Hlavaj manned the net behind a HC Plzeň team that ranked third-to-last in the league this season with just 14 wins on the year. That meant tall orders for Hlavaj, who posted a measly 8-20-0 record and lost both playoff appearances. He wasn’t supported much by the skaters in front of him, with the HC Plzeň roster scoring the fifth-fewest goals in the league and allowing the fourth-most. Nonetheless, this season marked Hlavaj’s fourth-straight losing season, with his 2019-20 QMJHL season marking his last time on the positive side of the win column. He only lost five times that season, posting a 33-3-2 record and .915 save percentage in 39 games.

Minnesota bolsters the Iowa Wild’s goaltending room with this move, giving the team some certainty behind top prospect Jesper Wallstedt. Zane McIntyre has served as Wallstedt’s de facto backup this season, but he’s managed a meager .879 save percentage and 3-13-3 record. His missteps aren’t being made up for by Hunter Jones or Peyton Jones, with neither goalie recording a win in their spot starts. Hlavaj will add competition, and push for an AHL starting role when Wallstedt inevitably moves to the NHL.

Wild Still In The Mix For Collin Graf

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Winger Collin Graf is widely expected to sign his first professional contract in the coming days.  Regarded as one of the top college free agents available, most of the league had made inquiries and he’s in the process of whittling down his list.  To that end, Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that the Rangers are no longer in the mix for the 21-year-old.  Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Michael Russo adds (Twitter link) that the Wild are believed to still have a chance at signing him.  Graf is coming off another strong season at Quinnipiac where he recorded 22 goals and 27 assists in 34 games.  Wherever he signs, it’s quite likely he burns the first season of his entry-level deal this year; he’d be eligible to play down the stretch in the regular season but not in the playoffs.

Wild Prospect Charlie Stramel Enters NCAA Transfer Portal

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Transfer season has arrived in the NCAA with several players applying for transfers daily.  Among the list of players who entered today is Wild prospect Charlie Stramel, per Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald.

The 19-year-old was a first-round pick by Minnesota back in June, going 21st overall.  Stramel had a successful run in the U.S. National Team Development Program and then went to college for the 2022-23 campaign.  He had a quiet year offensively in 2022-23 but that is often the case for freshmen.  With a sound defensive game, the hope was that the offense would come along, making him a viable two-way threat and someone the Wild hope will be part of their long-term core.

However, things didn’t go quite according to plan this past season.  After putting up a dozen points in 33 games in 2022-23, they actually went down in his sophomore year as Stramel had just three goals and five assists in 34 contests and he wound up spending a good chunk of the year on the fourth line.  That’s not the type of progression Stramel or the Wild were hoping to see.

Now, Stramel will seek out a new place to play and a program where he will have a better opportunity to develop as a prospect.  Oddly enough, Max Olson and Michael Russo of The Athletic relay (subscription link) that Stramel has made it known that he doesn’t want to be contacted by schools.  Whether that means that he has a place to play in mind or if he wants to do his own research and then reach out to other programs remains to be seen.  Either way, wherever Stramel lands, expectations will be considerably higher for a player already halfway through his college career.

Charlie Stramel Considering Entering The Transfer Portal

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Mike McIntyre of The Winnipeg Free Press is reporting that Winnipeg Jets forward Tyler Toffoli won’t dress tonight when the Jets take on the Los Angeles Kings. Toffoli missed practice this morning and was dealing with an illness according to Jets head coach Rick Bowness. Another game-time decision, Cole Perfetti will dress and could slide in alongside Sean Monahan and Kyle Connor. Since joining the Jets at the trade deadline, the 31-year-old Toffoli has posted four goals and two assists in 11 games. Perfetti on the other hand has 15 goals and 17 assists in 66 games this season.

In other Central Division notes:

  • Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sean Walker is in the lineup tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets after he was deemed questionable on Saturday. The 29-year-old played just 11:15 two nights ago against the Nashville Predators because of an upper-body injury but doesn’t appear to be feeling any ill effects tonight. Walker was also a trade deadline acquisition and has three goals and one assist in ten games since joining the Avalanche.
  • Joe Smith and Michael Russo of The Athletic are reporting that Minnesota Wild prospect Charlie Stramel is considering entering the transfer portal now that his season is over with the University of Wisconsin. The 2023 first-round pick has struggled with the Badgers and posted just three goals and five assists in 34 games this season. A league source has said that Stramel likely isn’t thrilled with his development, and it sure seems plausible given that he saw very little time on specialty teams and was relegated to fourth-line duty for much of the season.
  • Scott Powers of The Athletic is reporting that Chicago Blackhawks Colin Blackwell and Nikita Zaitsev are back at practice today. The 31-year-old Blackwell has missed the last five games as he’s been dealing with an upper-body injury. The center has eight goals and four assists in 39 games this year. Zaitsev will also be a game-time decision tomorrow and he too has been dealing with an upper-body injury. The veteran defenseman has just two goals and five assists in 36 games this season and hasn’t played since March 28th against the Ottawa Senators.

Ryan Hartman Suspended Three Games

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The NHL Department of Player Safety has announced that they’ve handed out a three-game suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct to Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman. The ban is the second suspension handed out to Hartman this season and the fourth of his NHL career. He has also been fined seven times.

The incident happened in overtime during a Minnesota loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. On the play, Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault scored into an empty net (meaning Minnesota received no points despite losing in overtime) and Hartman was seen screaming from the bench and throwing his stick in the direction of the officials. The video shows that Hartman nearly hit teammate Matt Boldy with the stick. For his actions in the game, Hartman was assessed a ten-minute misconduct for abusive language and the three-game suspension that was handed out today.

Hartman said that he didn’t intend to hurt anyone when he tossed his stick, and the league considered this when handing out their discipline as well as also factoring in Hartman’s lengthy record when it comes to supplemental discipline.

Hartman’s absence will certainly hurt the Wild’s very slim chances at a playoff spot, the 29-year-old has 19 goals and 23 assists in 68 games this season. Minnesota’s season is hanging on by a thread as they currently sit seven points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a 35-28-10 record.

Wild’s Liam Ohgren To Finish Season In AHL

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Top Wild forward prospect Liam Öhgren has arrived in North America and will be assigned to finish the season with AHL Iowa in the coming days, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports.

Öhgren, 20, was the 19th overall selection in the 2022 draft and is a consensus top-three prospect in the Minnesota system alongside netminder Jesper Wallstedt and Russian winger Danila Yurov. He signed his entry-level contract shortly after being drafted but has been loaned out to the Swedish pro circuit in back-to-back seasons, sliding the start of the deal to 2024-25.

This season was Öhgren’s first playing full-time in the top-level Swedish Hockey League, although injuries limited him to 26 games with Färjestad BK. His season came to an end last week after they were swept in the SHL quarterfinals by Rögle. The gifted sniper put his talents on full display, scoring 12 goals and 19 points, ranking second on the team in goals per game. He was one of the most explosive scorers in junior hockey during his draft season, lighting the lamp 33 times in 30 games with Djůrgardens’ U-20 club.

In all likelihood, the Stockholm native has played his last game in Sweden. He’ll likely start next season with Iowa to become more acclimated to the North American game, especially after missing such a large chunk of 2023-24, but he is a sure bet to at least see a handful of NHL contests. He’s unlikely to see any postseason action with Iowa to close out this year, as they’re seven points out of a playoff spot in the AHL’s Central Division with eight games remaining. His ELC will expire in 2027.

Ryan Hartman To Have Player Safety Hearing

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Wild forward Ryan Hartman has already been suspended once this season and a second may be coming his way.  The league announced that will have a phone hearing with the Department of Player Safety on Monday for unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of Saturday’s overtime loss to Vegas.

After Jonathan Marchessault scored with 90 seconds left in overtime into the empty net (meaning Minnesota didn’t receive a point despite losing in extra time), Hartman was yelling from the bench and reportedly threw his stick in the officials’ direction.  Hartman was given a ten-minute misconduct for abusive language on the play.

As Michael Russo of The Athletic points out (subscription link), Hartman’s reported actions fall within the parameters of Rule 40.4 which would constitute an automatic three-game suspension at a minimum.  The full wording of that rule is as follows:

Any player who, by his actions, physically demeans an official or physically threatens an official by (but not limited to) throwing a stick or any other piece of equipment or object at or in the general direction of an official, shooting the puck at or in the general direction of an official, spitting at or in the general direction of an official, or who deliberately applies physical force to an official solely for the purpose of getting free of such an official during or immediately following an altercation shall be suspended for not less than three (3) games.

It’s unclear if the hearing intends to determine if there is sufficient evidence to give Hartman a three-game ban or if they won’t apply that interpretation.

Hartman has been suspended three times in his career and fined on seven other occasions.  If a suspension is levied, he will be considered as a repeat offender which carries a higher level of forfeited salary.  For a repeat offender, the divisor in the calculation is 82 while for those who aren’t, the divisor is the number of days in the season.  For example, the hypothetical three-game suspension under that rule would cost a repeat offender 3/82 of their AAV while a non-repeat offender would lose 3/192 of their AAV.

Marcus Foligno Expected To Have Season-Ending Surgery

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Wild forward Marcus Foligno, who hasn’t played since last weekend due to a lower-body injury, is expected to undergo surgery that will end his season, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic. The Wild have not commented on the specifics of Foligno’s injury, but the veteran has seemingly been dealing with the issue for much of the second half of the campaign.

Foligno, 32, is in his seventh season in Minnesota. He’s two seasons removed from a career-best 23-goal, 42-point campaign in 2021-22 that also placed the checking winger among the top 10 in Selke voting for the first time. Most rightfully viewed that level of production as unsustainable, as he led the league with a 23.5% shooting percentage, but he’s remained a positive possession force with solid third-line production as he enters the latter stages of his career.

His offense trailed off to only seven goals and 21 points last season. That didn’t stop Wild GM Bill Guerin from inking him to a somewhat rich four-year, $16MM extension with partial no-move protection before this season began. Early on, it’s been solid value, as Foligno’s point-per-game pace has been slightly above his career average (10-22–22 in 55 GP). His possession numbers have also rebounded after a middling 2022-23, logging a 51.6 CF% at even strength that’s sixth among Wild forwards with more than 10 games played. He’s done so in a decidedly shutdown role, averaging 58.5% of his zone starts in the defensive end.

Injuries have derailed his campaign since the calendar flipped to 2024, though, missing 18 of Minnesota’s last 37 games. He first exited the lineup with a lower-body injury sustained on New Year’s Eve against the Jets, of which he’s believed to still be dealing with the lingering effects. His lengthiest absence came when he missed the Wild’s final 12 games before the trade deadline, during which the team managed a 7-4-1 record. Despite missing so much time, he’s still managed to lead the team in hits with 179.

Growing injury concerns before his extension even kicks in certainly make the deal look less palatable than it did when it was signed in September. As such, there’s more motivation to hold him out of the lineup and address the lower-body issue now to ensure he’s 100% next season. After today’s overtime loss to the Golden Knights, which they won’t get a point out of after conceding an empty-net game-winner to Jonathan Marchessault, Minnesota sits eight points back of the Kings for the second wild-card spot in the West while having played one more game. While not mathematically eliminated, their playoff chances are likely to drop to the 1-3% range after Saturday’s games wrap up.

Foligno is one of four Wild forwards locked in through 2028, joining Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Frédérick Gaudreau. The full no-move clause on his extension expires after the 2025-26 season, at which point it converts to a 15-team no-trade list for the final two years of the deal.

Marc-André Fleury Interested In Returning To Wild Next Season

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Future Hall-of-Fame netminder Marc-André Fleury hasn’t decided he’s ready to hang up his skates and is open to returning to the Wild next season, he told NHL.com/fr Senior Reporter Jean-François Chaumont this week.

If Fleury returns for his 21st year in the NHL, it will only be in the Twin Cities. The pending UFA told Chaumont that he “wouldn’t want to move and take my three kids out of their environment” and that “it’s probably Minnesota or retirement.”

The 39-year-old has occupied the 1A role in Minnesota as the Wild try to claw their way into the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Fleury started eight of 12 games in March. He was excellent for most of that stretch, going 4-1-1 with a .936 SV% between March 2 and March 16, but he has now surrendered five goals in each of his last two starts.

It hasn’t been a season to write home about for either him or tandem partner Filip Gustavsson, who have both logged save percentages under .900 after serving as one of the league’s better goalie tandems a season ago. His .899 SV% is his lowest since his first two NHL seasons with the Penguins in 2003-04 and 2005-06 behind a team that was inarguably the league’s worst defensively. However, that didn’t stop him from overtaking Patrick Roy for second place on the league’s all-time wins list earlier this season, now nine ahead of his countryman with 560.

He’s still been serviceable as a backup and has bounced back from a highly disappointing 2021-22 campaign split between the Wild and the Blackhawks, where his -17.2 goals saved above expected was fourth-worst in the NHL, per MoneyPuck. He may not move the needle much if he returns for his age-40 season – his birthday is in November – but there’s reason to believe he can still keep pace with the NHL game.

Obviously, Fleury believes he can, citing his increased comfort level and “rediscovered joy” as the season progressed. The netminder said that while he never reached a final decision, he entered the 2023-24 campaign thinking “it was going to be my last season,” a feeling exacerbated by hip problems he said plagued him as Minnesota struggled out of the gate.

Those are in the rearview now, and he’s ready to return if he still has a place in the organization. He made it clear to Chaumont that he knows that’s not a guarantee, saying he’ll speak with Minnesota GM Bill Guerin about his vision for next season and if the team feels top goaltending prospect Jesper Wallstedt is ready for a full-time role alongside Gustavsson, who has two seasons remaining on his contract.

Wallstedt, the 20th overall pick in the 2021 draft, struggled in his NHL debut in January, conceding seven goals on 34 shots faced in a rout at the hands of the Stars. However, he’s had a strong second season in the minors with AHL Iowa, posting a .911 SV% and 20-17-3 record in 40 games behind a weaker squad. He was sent to the AHL All-Star Game after making it as a rookie last season, too.

Guerin told Chaumont that he’s “more than open to the possibility of seeing him coming back for another season” and “there’s still some gas left in his tank.” Fleury’s made it clear that money won’t be a major consideration on a one-year extension and could very well take as low as the league minimum salary as Minnesota continues to navigate a tough salary cap situation created by the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, which still combine for a $14.7MM dead cap charge next season.

It would be the second extension the Sorel, Quebec, native signs in Minnesota. After coming over from Chicago ahead of the 2022 trade deadline, he signed a two-year, $7MM deal with full no-move protection to close out his days of earning multi-year contracts.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Evening Notes: Foligno, Kane, Czarnik

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Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno is dealing with a nagging lower-body injury and won’t dress tonight when the Wild take on the San Jose Sharks. Foligno missed Tuesday’s practice with the injury and has missed several games throughout this season with what was also described as lower-body injuries.

Despite the lingering issue, the 32-year-old has dressed in 55 games this season with Minnesota, posting 10 goals and 12 assists while playing 14:29 a game. It’s been a tough season filled with starts and stops for the Buffalo, New York native, which has led to speculation from Russo that perhaps the Wild will shut Foligno down for the rest of the season to allow him a chance to heal.

In other evening notes:

  • The Detroit Red Wings will be without the services of forward Patrick Kane this evening as they take on the Carolina Hurricanes. The Red Wings have been dealing with an illness travelling around their dressing room and it appears that Kane is the latest victim of it. Kane’s absence could loom large as the Red Wings sit two points back of Washington for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and Kane has been hot as of late with nine points in his last eight games.
  • The Red Wings will also be without center Austin Czarnik who is also dealing with an illness. No word on whether Czarnik and Kane are dealing with the same ailment or not but given the issues with sickness this week its likely a safe bet. The 31-year-old was recalled from the AHL two weeks ago and has struggled at the NHL level this season with just a single assist in 25 games. With Kane and Czarnik out of the lineup, Daniel Sprong will draw back in after sitting the last three games as a healthy scratch.

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