Wild Reassign Travis Boyd, Jesper Wallstedt
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
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.
Evening Notes: Gustavsson, Dahlin, Duclair
Joe Smith of The Athletic tweeted that Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson did not practice today with the team. Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News also reported that Gustavsson will miss his second consecutive game tomorrow night against the Florida Panthers. Marc-Andre Fleury will get the start with Jesper Wallstedt backing him up. Although Gustavsson will miss tomorrow night’s game, Joe Smith tweeted that Wild head coach John Hynes believes it will be a short-term injury.
Gustavsson has returned to form in 2024-25, bouncing back from a difficult stretch last season. Thus far this year, Gustavsson has posted a 14-5-3 record, along with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage in 22 appearances.
In other evening notes:
- Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550 reported today that Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff is optimistic that the team will get defenseman Rasmus Dahlin back into the lineup very soon. Dahlin could practice as early as Thursday and depending on how that goes, he could suit up Friday when the Sabres take on Toronto. The 24-year-old has been dealing with a back issue that initially flared up in training camp and has missed seven straight games.
- New York Islanders forward Anthony Duclair didn’t play tonight against Carolina but has been medically cleared to return and will do so whenever he is comfortable to return (as per Ethan Sears of the New York Post). Duclair has missed 28 straight games with a lower-body injury and has played just five times this season, tallying two goals and an assist in those games. The 29-year-old signed a four-year deal in the summer as a free agent and will likely occupy a top-six role for the Islanders when he does return.
Wild’s Devin Shore Clears Waivers
Dec. 17: Shore cleared waivers, Friedman reports. He’ll remain on the Wild’s roster for now, adds Michael Russo of The Athletic.
Dec. 16: The Minnesota Wild have placed forward Devin Shore on waivers, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The move was alluded to by Michael Russo of The Athletic earlier today. It will create more room for Minnesota to find a productive depth forward as they look to fill-in for the injured Jakub Lauko.
Shore has played in 12 NHL games this season but hasn’t recorded any scoring or penalties. The only changes to his stat line has come in the form of a +1, seven blocked shots, and 17 hits. Shore is one of five Wild forwards to play in multiple games with no scoring, joining a group that includes top prospect Liam Ohgren and Iowa Wild scoring leader Travis Boyd.
The scoring drought in Minnesota is a crater for Shore, after declining productivity in each of the last three seasons. A fourth-line forward wherever he goes, Shore recorded 11 points in 49 games with the Edmonton Oilers in 2021-22, but followed it up with just nine points in 47 games the following year. He attempted to spur that downward trend with a move to Seattle last season, but he ended up with just four points in 21 games with the Kraken – and spent most of the year in the minor leagues. Still, his AHL scoring was promising – 25 points in 39 games – and Shore once again tried to spur things with a team-change. He signed a one-year, league-minimum contract with Minnesota this summer, and had to work his way up to the NHL roster after starting in the minors. He managed that quickly, with 10 points in 14 games with Iowa – but has since hit a complete stall. This waiver placement should set him up to rediscover his scoring, and better plan for ways to translate it to Minnesota’s fourth-line when he’s next called upon.
This is the seventh waiver placement of Shore’s career, and his second of the season. Despite playing for six different teams in his 10-year career, Shore hasn’t once been claimed off of waivers.
Wild Assign Reese Johnson, Recall Brendan Gaunce
5:30 PM: The Minnesota Wild have recalled forward Brendan Gaunce, after placing Devin Shore on waivers, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Gaunce would become the 31st player to suit up for the Wild, should he step into the lineup. He gets the call after scoring eight goals and 14 points in 21 games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild.
11:30 AM: The morning has started out with a heap of small-news roster transactions, headlined by the Minnesota Wild assigning center Reese Johnson to the Iowa Wild, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Johnson stepped into Minnesota’s last two games to cover injuries to Yakov Trenin and Jakub Lauko. Trenin is expected to work his way back into the lineup before the team hosts Florida on Wednesday. That would alleviate some of the lineup pressure, though Russo points out that Minnesota will still need to recall a forward. He adds that the team could also place forwards Devin Shore or Ben Jones on waivers to create room for an additional call-up.
Johnson’s assignment gives Minnesota a chance to assess the playing field. They’ve had terrible luck with their extra forwards so far this season – with none of Johnson (three games), Shore (12 games), or Jones (13 games) recording any scoring in their opportunities this season. The lack of production has also extended to Michael Milne, Travis Boyd, and even top prospect Liam Ohgren – making the question of who to call up a tough one to answer.
Minnesota will need someone to step up for Lauko, who will be forced to miss at least the next two games with his placement on injured reserve. The top of their call-up sheet seems covered by this list of scoreless forwards, but Minnesota may opt for a new face instead. If that’s the case, it’d likely be Brendan Gaunce, Hunter Haight, and Luke Toporowski vying for NHL ice time. Gaunce (14 points in 21 games) and Haight (12 points in 23 games) rank near the top of the Iowa Wild in scoring, while Toporowski (nine points in 11 games) ranks fourth on the team in point-per-game scoring. Haight and Toporowski are still awaiting their NHL debuts.
Minnesota is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, but have been outscored 14-4 in their losses. Scoring depth down the lineup would certainly support Minnesota’s game-to-game consistency – but which forward will bring that scoring continues to be an open question.
Filip Gustavsson Dealing With Lower-Body Issue
The Vancouver Canucks announced today that they’ve assigned forward Aatu Räty to the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League. The 22-year-old was recalled on Saturday before the Canucks game against the Bruins but didn’t end up dressing and served as a healthy scratch.
The former second-round pick has spent considerable time in the NHL this season, dressing in 20 games and picking up two goals and two assists. His AHL campaign has been limited, playing just eight games with Abbotsford, but Räty has been very productive posting four goals and three assists.
In other Western Conference notes:
- Chicago Blackhawks forward Nick Foligno was sick today and didn’t dress today in Chicago’s 5-3 win over the New York Islanders (as per Mario Tirabassi of CHGO Sports). The 37-year-old had points in each of his previous two games and is having a decent offensive season with seven goals and six assists in 30 games. He was replaced today by Joey Anderson who went scoreless in 13:27 of ice time.
- Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic tweeted that St. Louis Blues forward Radek Faksa missed his third consecutive game tonight due to a cut on his leg. The 30-year-old suffered the injury in a game against Vancouver and is making progress towards a return. Veteran Brandon Saad replaced Faksa in the lineup. Faksa is in his first season with the Blues after spending the first nine years of his NHL career with the Dallas Stars.
- Michael Russo of The Athletic writes that Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson is dealing with some soreness in his lower body and was getting looked at today. The ailment is reportedly nothing major, but it was enough to prompt the Wild to take a longer look at the issue. The 26-year-old is having a terrific bounce-back season with a 14-5-3 record along with a. 2.24 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Gustavsson took warmups last night and did serve as the backup, but the issue prompted the team to act today as well as call up top prospect Jesper Wallstedt.
Wild Place Jakub Lauko On IR, Recall Jesper Wallstedt
The Minnesota Wild have placed forward Jakub Lauko on injured reserve just a few hours after he left the team’s Saturday game against Philadelphia with a lower-body injury. Lauko played three minutes in the win. He’ll now have to miss at least seven days of action, making next Saturday’s matchup against Winnipeg his next chance to step into the lineup. In a corresponding, and surprising, move Minnesota has utilized an emergency recall on goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, suggesting some sort of injury to Filip Gustavsson. Gustavsson backed up Marc-Andre Fleury on Saturday. There’s been no indication of what he may be dealing with.
This news adds to a mounting list of injuries in Minnesota. Winger Mats Zuccarello and defender Jonas Brodin each returned from injury on Saturday – but the team is still without Joel Eriksson Ek, Jacob Middleton, and Yakov Trenin. The former two are both on IR, while the latter was ruled out of Saturday’s game just hours before it started due to an upper-body injury. Luckily, Trenin is only listed as questionable for the team’s Sunday game against Vegas per Michael Russo of The Athletic.
Even Lauko has faced an injury bug, returning on Tuesday from a previous lower-body injury that held him out of six games. It’s unclear if the two injuries are connected, but he’ll return to IR for the second time this season. The routine absences have made it hard for Lauko to find his footing in a new setting after a draft-day trade sent him to Minnesota for Vinni Lettieri and a swap of fourth-round picks. Lauko has recorded four points and a -6 in his first 23 games with the Wild – though he has found ground as a bruiser, ranking third on the team with 46 hits. Lauko is in his third NHL season, spending the previous two in Boston, where he combined for 17 points and 220 hits in 83 games.
The Wild deployed Reese Johnson in Trenin’s role on Saturday. Assuming Trenin returns soon, Johnson could slide over to fill Lauko’s role. Minnesota is also carrying Liam Ohgren and Devin Shore. Neither has scored at in the NHL this season – Ohgren in eight games and Shore in 11 – but they’re both top scorers in the minors. Ohgren has scored 11 points in 12 games for the AHL’s Iowa Wild, while Shore has 10 points in 14 games. Trying to get the monkey off either player’s back at the NHL level could be a good use of time, especially given Ohgren’s case for being Minnesota’s top prospect.
If not Ohgren, the top prospect title would likely go to Wallstedt, even amidst a struggling year. Wallstedt has a 5-6-1 record and .874 save percentage in 12 AHL games this season, including five games of allowing five-or-more goals. This recall could be the balancing piece, though his chance at seeing ice time will largely hinge on the severity of Gustavsson’s injury. Wallstedt played in his first three NHL games last season, setting a 2-1-0 record and .897 save percentage. He’s been the AHL starter since 2022-23, recording a much more encouraging 45-40-10 record and .905 Sv% in 95 games.
Wild Activate Mats Zuccarello And Jonas Brodin
While the Wild lost a key blueliner to LTIR on Friday, there is some good news on the injury front for them. Michael Russo of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that winger Mats Zuccarello has been activated off LTIR while defenseman Jonas Brodin has been activated off IR. Both players are expected to return today versus Philadelphia.
Zuccarello has missed the last month due to a lower-body injury, stalling what had been a strong start to his season. Prior to the injury, the 37-year-old had eight goals and six assists in 17 games while logging over 17 minutes of playing time. That performance came on the heels of putting up 63 points in 69 games last season, showing he’s still quite capable of playing in the top six.
While Minnesota is among the top teams in the league in the standings, their offense enters play today ranked 14th in the NHL, just above the middle of the pack. Accordingly, getting a key producer like Zuccarello back should be a considerable boost to their attack.
As for Brodin, he has missed a little more than two weeks due to an upper-body injury. The 31-year-old got off to a decent start offensively with eight points in 18 appearances while once again being a key shot-blocker, still sitting second on the Wild with 45 despite missing 11 games. Brodin is one of their defensive anchors on the penalty kill as well; his 2:15 SH TOI per game leads the team.
The Wild only had one open roster spot before activating Zuccarello and Brodin. While not yet announced by the team, defenseman Cameron Crotty has been returned to AHL Iowa; he was recalled on Monday but didn’t suit up with Minnesota.
Middleton’s Injury May Affect Minnesota’s Deadline Plans
It’s been a surprising year for the Minnesota Wild. After missing the playoffs last year, they’ve accrued the second-most points in the Western Conference up to this point in the regular season.
They’re still cap-strapped, too, thanks to the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, with the team still owing the pair a combined $14.7MM this season. The Wild needed to stay diligent in their efforts to accrue up cap space throughout the regular season to eventually add a substantive complementary piece at the trade deadline.
Minnesota has unfortunately hit a few roadblocks in the form of injuries. The team already had to place forward Mats Zuccarello on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury earlier in the season and placed underrated defenseman Jacob Middleton on it yesterday.
In an interview with Michael Russo of The Athletic (Subscription Article), general manager Bill Guerin explains that the latest LTIR placement may affect the team’s chances of acquiring a top-six forward at this year’s deadline. Russo quoted Guerin saying, “Yeah, I mean, it probably will. And again, that’s just one of those things. We can’t control it. We’ve been doing our best to build up cap space as we go along. But things happen and we can’t necessarily control it all the time. We’ll see what we can do though. That’s a couple months away. So we’ll see.”
According to PuckPedia, the Wild should have a projected deadline cap space of $5.4MM, barely enough to acquire the top-six winger they’ve needed for much of the season. The available cap space will shrink should Middelton’s injury keep him on LTIR longer than expected.
To their credit, Minnesota has blown past their expectations this season while dealing with numerous injuries. Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, and Joel Eriksson Ek have each missed considerable time with injury this season but the Wild have still found success without deploying a full roster for much of the year.
Wild Claim Travis Dermott, Place Jacob Middleton On LTIR
The Wild have claimed defenseman Travis Dermott off waivers from the Oilers, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Defender Jacob Middleton, who sustained a hand injury in last night’s 7-1 loss to the Oilers, landed on long-term injured reserve minutes earlier in a corresponding move, per the team.
It’s no surprise to see Minnesota’s desire to add some defensive depth to the organization, particularly a lefty. They’re now without their top two left-shot options in Middleton and Jonas Brodin (upper body, week-to-week) for quite a bit, and Cameron Crotty, the current No. 7 on the roster, is a right-shot defender with just one NHL game under his belt.
In comes Dermott and his 339 NHL games of experience, although just 10 came in an Edmonton sweater. The soon-to-be 28-year-old didn’t generate much interest on the free-agent market last summer. Instead, he opted for a tryout with the Oilers, which he successfully converted into a one-year, two-way pact at the beginning of the regular season. After posting no points, a -3 rating and being out-attempted 132-111 in his even-strength minutes, he was scratched in nine straight games – including last night’s win over the Wild.
After suiting up for the Coyotes last season, Dermott shouldn’t have many work visa issues. General manager Bill Guerin told Russo he believes he’ll be available for tomorrow’s matinee against the Flyers. Unfortunately, he flew back to Edmonton with his former Oilers teammates last night and will need to make the trek back to Minnesota today.
Regarding Middleton, the veteran took an Evan Bouchard shot to the hand in the first period of last night’s loss and didn’t return. He’s labeled as week-to-week, but as his LTIR placement dictates, the earliest he’s eligible to return is Jan. 7 against the Blues. Whatever fracture he sustained will likely need surgery today, Russo reports.
It’s incredibly tough timing for Middleton, who turns 29 next month. He’s amid the best season of his career by far, leading the NHL with a +22 rating and averaging north of 20 minutes per game for the first time. He has five goals and 13 points in 29 games – assuming he’s available on Jan. 7, he’d still be on pace to record 31 points in about 70 games and break last year’s career-best 25.
Declan Chisholm now stands as the Wild’s top left-shot option until Brodin is ready to return (he’ll likely be the first one back). He’ll stand to see far more than his usual 16-17 minutes per game in the coming days – he’s already skated more than 20 minutes twice in Minnesota’s last five games.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.