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Wild Recall Three Players, Move Jonas Brodin To LTIR

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The Wild recalled defensemen Daemon Hunt and Dakota Mermis, as well as forward Vinni Lettieri, from AHL Iowa on Wednesday, per a team release. To make the Wild salary cap-compliant, defenseman Jonas Brodin was moved to long-term injured reserve retroactive to December 9. He remains out indefinitely with an upper-body injury sustained last Friday on a hit from Oilers winger Evander Kane.

Doing so gives the Wild a 23-player active roster for the first time this season. Recalling both Hunt and Mermis gives the Wild eight defensemen to choose from on a nightly basis while Brodin is sidelined, while Lettieri will serve as injury insurance as an extra forward with the Wild slated for an East Coast road trip early next week.

This is the fourth recall of the season for Hunt, the 65th overall pick in the 2020 draft. The 21-year-old last suited up for an NHL game on November 9 and has been a healthy scratch in four out of the nine games he’s been rostered for this season.

Including his NHL debut on October 27 against the Capitals, Hunt’s played in five games, recording three shots on goal while averaging a paltry 8:36 per contest. He’s still looking for his first NHL point. The physical two-way defender is beginning to look comfortable at the professional level, notching a goal, eight assists and a +3 rating in 14 games for AHL Iowa this season. He recorded 11 points in 59 games last season, his first in the pros after completing his junior career with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors.

Mermis comes back up to the NHL promptly after being sent down Monday to extend his waiver-exempt status, which lasts for 30 NHL-rostered days after he last cleared waivers on November 18. The 29-year-old has played in a career-high 14 games this season, recording two goals and three assists while logging 15:29 per game. After playing 13 straight games between October 17 and November 12, Mermis has frequently been a healthy scratch when on the NHL roster and has played just once in the last month, logging 12:37 and a +1 rating against the Oilers on Friday.

Lettieri, 28, returns to Minnesota after a week-long stint in the minors. The high-end minor-league point producer has split the 2023-24 campaign between leagues after signing with his hometown club in the offseason, recording eight points in ten games for AHL Iowa and three points in 13 games for Minnesota. His last appearance came on November 30 against the Predators.

Latest On Minnesota Wild Drafting Strategy

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  • Although we’re far away from the 2024 NHL draft, recent reporting has given some interesting insight into the draft strategy of one NHL team. The Minnesota Wild raised some eyebrows at the 2023 NHL Draft when they spent the 21st overall selection on divisive center Charlie Stramel, passing on more consensus picks such as the USNTDP’s Gabriel Perreault. With Perreault now setting college hockey ablaze at Boston College and Stramel struggling mightily at the University of Wisconsin, the Wild’s decision is under increased scrutiny. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported that the Wild “team skipped somebody on its list in the first round in order to fill a need,” and has more recently asked Wild scouting director Judd Brackett about the team’s draft strategy. (subscription link) Brackett said, “It’s no secret that we’ve continued to draft at that position for the last couple of years,” indicating that the club may continue to prioritize drafting centers over other positions. That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, of course, as the Wild have never had a truly elite center at any point in franchise history, and the team’s current center depth is generally considered below average.

Wild Assign Dakota Mermis To AHL

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The Wild reassigned defenseman Dakota Mermis to AHL Iowa on Monday night, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. As Russo articulates, the move allows the Wild to bank some cap space as the team doesn’t play again until Thursday. While they no longer have an extra healthy skater on the active roster, the Wild now have a few days to decide whether they want to bring Mermis back up or recall the younger Daemon Hunt to serve as the team’s seventh defenseman in Jonas Brodin’s weeks-long absence.

Mermis can be assigned directly to Iowa because he’s been on the NHL roster for less than 30 days and played in less than 10 games since last clearing waivers in mid-November. Assigning Mermis to Iowa also extends his waiver-exempt clock, providing Wild GM Bill Guerin with some added roster flexibility.

Minnesota acquired Mermis in free agency in October 2020, and he’s since served as a valuable farmhand who can rather seamlessly step into NHL play. He’s played in a career-high 14 games this season, recording five points and a 48.5% Corsi share at even strength while averaging 15:29 per game. He has one assist in four games with Iowa, although he’s never been a considerable scoring threat at the minor-league level. The nine-year pro has 472 career professional games under his belt – 430 in the AHL, 41 in the NHL and one in the ECHL.

Jonas Brodin To Miss Significant Time

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Last night, in the team’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild defenseman, Jonas Brodin, went down with an injury after a hit-from-behind from Evander Kane. In an update today, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Brodin will be out for a significant amount of time due to the hit.

In the short-term, the Wild will have veterans Alex Goligoski and recently-acquired Zach Bogosian to rely on in Brodin’s stead, but their defensive depth will ultimately be tested without one of their top defensemen in the lineup for the foreseeable future. Leading the team in ATOI, Brodin has scored one goal and nine points in 25 games, mostly impacting the game on the defensive side of the puck.

If Minnesota’s current depth is unable to properly fill in the hole on the left side of the defense in Brodin’s absence, the team may look to once again call up defenseman Daemon Hunt to Minnesota. Although he was unable to score a point during a five-game stretch in late October and early November, Hunt has scored one goal and eight points in 12 games for Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, so far this season.

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Fleury Remains Undecided About Playing Next Season

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  • Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury remains undecided about his playing future beyond this season, notes John Shipley of the Pioneer Press. The 39-year-old is in his 20th NHL season and second with Minnesota but this one hasn’t gone as well as his first with the team.  Fleury has played in ten games so far heading into tonight’s action, posting a 3.21 GAA with a .884 SV%.  If those hold, it would be the lowest save percentage of his career and his highest GAA since the 2005-06 campaign.  Fleury is in the final year of his contract, one that carries a $3.5MM cap charge.

Afternoon Notes: Chytil, Rust, Bogosian

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New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette shared that forward Filip Chytil is, “moving in the right direction” with his upper-body injury, adding that he thinks Chytil will return this season. The 24-year-old centerman is currently on long-term injured reserve, sitting out of action since November 3rd with an upper-body injury.

Chytil appeared in 10 games with the Rangers before going down with injury, recording six assists and four penalty minutes. He was averaging nearly 16 minutes of ice time each game through the early season, the highest average of his seven-year NHL career. Chytil scored a career-high 22 goals and 45 points in 74 games last season, after recording either 22 or 23 points in each of his four prior NHL seasons. The step forward in scoring brought Chytil’s career totals to 144 points in 337 games.

Chytil is one of many injured Rangers forwards, with the team also without Barclay Goodrow and Chris Kreider, who are both day-to-day with injury, and Kaapo Kakko, who is alongside Chytil on injured reserve.

Other notes from around the league:

Bogosian Considered Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury

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  • Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that Minnesota Wild defenseman, Zach Bogosian, is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning to provide more defensive prowess into the lineup, Bogosian has one assist in nine games for the Wild, averaging just over 13 minutes of ice time per night.

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Wild Recall Dakota Mermis, Reassign Vinni Lettieri

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The Wild recalled defenseman Dakota Mermis from AHL Iowa today, per a team announcement. Minnesota sent forward Vinni Lettieri to Iowa in a corresponding move to remain under the Upper Limit of the salary cap.

Mermis, 29, has appeared in 20 games for the Wild since signing as a free agent in 2020, recording two goals and three assists in 15:30 of average ice time. After clearing waivers, the Wild recalled Mermis early this season as injuries struck their blueline, playing him in a career-high 13 contests. After notching his only five points as a member of the Wild and recording a -1 rating, the Wild placed Mermis on waivers again in November, shortly after the return of captain Jared Spurgeon from injury, officially assigning him to Iowa less than a week later.

He’s only appeared in four games for Iowa since his November demotion. The left-shot defender has one assist, a -1 rating and 12 penalty minutes after recording 26 points in 63 games for Iowa last season. While Spurgeon likely won’t miss any time after departing yesterday’s win over the Blackhawks with an apparent lower-body injury, recent trade acquisition Zach Bogosian is banged up and likely to miss time on their upcoming Pacific Division road trip with an upper-body injury. With Bogosian not headed for long-term injured reserve, the Wild only have sufficient cap space for one extra player – meaning they’ll carry 12 forwards and seven defensemen for the trip instead of 13 forwards and six defensemen.

This is Letteri’s second demotion of the season after clearing waivers last month. The 28-year-old had played in two out of three games since his subsequent call-up on November 28, sitting as a healthy scratch against the Blackhawks yesterday and playing a limited role when in the lineup. A point-per-game threat in the minors, Lettieri has averaged 10:43 through 13 NHL appearances this season with two goals and one assist. The Minnesota-born center has 96 NHL games under his belt, dating back to the 2017-18 season with the Rangers, and remains a high-end AHL talent in his prime.

The Wild did not need to expose Lettieri to waivers because he had been on the NHL roster for less than 30 days and played less than 10 games since he cleared last month.

Zach Bogosian Out Day-To-Day

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  • Veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian will not play in today’s Minnesota Wild game, as the blueliner is dealing with an upper-body injury. Bogosian was acquired by Wild to help shore up their defense and has thus far played in nine games for the Wild. With him out of the lineup, Jon Merrill will get the call for Minnesota.

Morning Notes: Kane, Hartman, Meier

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TSN’s Pierre LeBrun shared on the latest episode of Insider Trading that Patrick Kane could be moved at the trade deadline if Detroit doesn’t hang on to their playoff contention. LeBrun continued by saying that Kane’s agent, Pat Brisson, and Wings general manager, Steve Yzerman, discussed all possibilities prior to the future Hall of Famer signing in Motor City, including the chance of Kane needing to find a new home to ensure another playoff berth.

Kane is signed to a one-year contract and clearly hoping to make it an efficient year. The 35-year-old winger has already had 11 Stanley Cup Playoff appearances through his 16-year, winning the Cup three times with the Chicago Blackhawks. But he’s missed much of the postseason over the last six years, only seeing the playoffs in 2019-20, with the Blackhawks, and in 2022-23, with the New York Rangers.

If Detroit isn’t able to maintain their playoff spot, the Insider Trading panel mentioned the Buffalo Sabres as a potential alternative for Kane. The panel shared that Buffalo doesn’t lack any interest in the star winger, enjoying the strong veteran presence that he would bring to a locker room. The Sabres and Red Wings are bound to be close in the playoff race come the end of the year, with the teams currently separated by five points in the standings.

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