Minnesota Wild Re-Assign Adam Beckman
The Minnesota Wild have sent Adam Beckman to the minor leagues, after playing fewer than ten minutes in each of his last three games. The team has several options to replace him, including the potential return of Jordan Greenway, who has been practicing of late.
One thing that Michael Russo of The Athletic also points out is that tomorrow night, the Wild will be honoring Alex Goligoski for playing 1,000 games in the league, a feat he accomplished last month. The team could choose to go with seven defensemen to get him into the lineup, as he’s not a regular at the moment with younger, more effective options ahead of him.
Either way, the Wild need to shake something up. The team has lost three in a row and remains under .500 on the season. They are ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes in the Central Division standings, two teams who are trying to finish as low as possible this season.
Greenway, who has played just a handful of shifts this season, was skating with Frederick Gaudreau and Matt Boldy at practice according to Sarah McLellan of the Star Tribune. The 25-year-old has been a big part of the team’s identity the last few years and was one-third of a top defensive line with Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek last season.
Injury Notes: Lightning, Wild, Orlov
The Tampa Bay Lightning are lagging behind the pace in the Atlantic Division, and injuries are becoming a complicating factor. Neither defensemen Erik Cernak nor Cal Foote was on the ice for their morning skate today after sustaining injuries in Friday night’s 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, according to The Tampa Bay Times’ Eduardo A. Encina. Mikhail Sergachev, who was also injured in that game, was present.
Tampa could be without both Cernak and Foote when they take on the Capitals in a rematch tonight. If neither is ready to go, no recalls will be necessary as Haydn Fleury and Philippe Myers are already on the active roster as healthy extras. The Lightning’s depth is doing little to support the strong play of its stars, a stark change from years past. They’ll need a gritty performance tonight to avoid dropping to .500 on the season.
- Jordan Greenway has been a rarely-seen presence in the Minnesota Wild lineup this season, with injuries limiting him to just two games. After suffering yet another upper-body injury, he’s not expected to travel with the team on their one-game road trip to Nashville early this week, according to Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He’ll miss that game and today’s home matchup against the Sharks, while Matt Boldy continues to slot in aside Marcus Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek in Greenway’s usual spot. Brandon Duhaime, who’s missed two weeks with an upper-body injury, is a possibility for the Nashville game.
- The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reports that Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov participated in morning skate ahead of the team’s game tonight against Tampa, but is expected to miss his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury. Orlov is on injured reserve and remains day-to-day. The 31-year-old has five assists in 13 games.
Central Notes: Greenway, Girard, Ehlers
After making his return to the lineup on Tuesday, Wild winger Jordan Greenway was scratched for a second straight game last night against Seattle. Head coach Dean Evason told reporters including Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press that Greenway has suffered a setback that will keep him out of the lineup a little longer. Greenway started the year injured, then was reinjured in his season debut last month, and now is banged up once more. Fortunately, Evason clarified that this setback isn’t as serious as last time and he is skating at least. There’s no timeline yet for when he might be able to return.
More from the Central:
- The Avalanche hope that blueliner Samuel Girard can resume skating today as he works his way back from a lower-body injury sustained earlier this week, relays Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has had a bit more limited usage than he has been accustomed to this season as his ATOI is down more than two and a half minutes from last year although he’s still logging over 19 minutes a night. With Bowen Byram also out of the lineup, the depth on Colorado’s back end is getting tested.
- While the Jets were hoping to have winger Nikolaj Ehlers back by now, he hasn’t started skating yet. Head coach Rick Bowness told Postmedia’s Paul Friesen that the 26-year-old hasn’t suffered a setback in his recovery but rather that it’s simply an abundance of caution from the medical staff. Ehlers has been one of Winnipeg’s top offensive performers over the last several years and his return would be a welcome addition to a team that sits 25th in the NHL in goals scored so far this season. However, it appears as if that return is still a little while away.
Snapshots: Wild, Voracek, Carlson, Klok
Minnesota could soon get a key winger back as Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune relays (Twitter link) that the team is optimistic that Jordan Greenway will play in at least half of their upcoming back-to-back next week which begins on Thursday. The 25-year-old missed the start of the season due to an upper-body injury and in his first game back, suffered another upper-body issue on his third shift of the game. Last year, he had 27 points in 62 games for the Wild while chipping in with 155 hits and would be a welcome addition to a team that is banged up when it comes to their forward situation.
To that end, the Wild will recall a pair of forwards before heading out on the road as Ryan Hartman and Brandon Duhaime aren’t expected to make the trip. With Minnesota currently banking cap space, it’s in their best interest to delay formalizing those recalls for at least a couple more days.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- It has been a rough start to the season for the Blue Jackets and things aren’t getting any better as the team announced (Twitter link) that they were without winger Jakub Voracek for the second half of their back-to-back set against Colorado due to an upper-body injury. The veteran is off to a bit of a quiet start this season with just a goal and five assists through his first 11 games. Voracek is being listed as day-to-day.
- Capitals blueliner John Carlson has returned to practice, notes Samantha Pell of the Washington Post (Twitter link). However, while he took part in the full game day skate, he’s not eligible to be activated off injured reserve until Monday but it appears he won’t be out much longer than the minimum time required.
- After having his contract terminated by the Coyotes last month, defenseman Lukas Klok has found his next home as Rogle of the SHL announced that they’ve signed him to a contract for the rest of the season. The 27-year-old signed with Arizona after a strong showing in the KHL but after four games in the minors, he decided that he was better off going back overseas. Klok has quickly become a bit of a journeyman as this will be the sixth different league and country that he has played in since 2018.
Minnesota Wild Re-Assign Steven Fogarty
With the Minnesota Wild off until Tuesday, the team has returned Steven Fogarty to the minor league. The move will save some additional cap space and salary, while also suggesting they could be getting healthy bodies back soon. Michael Russo of The Athletic tweets that Jordan Greenway is expected back in time for the game against the Los Angeles Kings but also notes that two forwards could be recalled if Marcus Foligno and Brandon Duhaime are still unavailable.
Fogarty, 29, was up on an emergency recall and played two games for the team, seeing limited ice time in both. The minor league veteran failed to record a shot on goal and registered three hits. That’s about what is expected of him at this point, given his rare appearances in the NHL. Since turning pro in 2016, he has just 32 games at the highest level and has recorded three points.
Greenway, who started the year on injured reserve, returned for just six shifts in late October before ending up on the shelf once again. The 6’6″ forward is a key part of the Minnesota forward group but needs to find a way to stay on the ice. Last season he had ten goals and 27 points in 62 games but was part of one of the best defensive lines in the NHL, alongside Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek.
After the team was blown out of the building by the Seattle Kraken last night, they certainly could use a bit of that added defensive identity back in the lineup.
Minnesota Places Jordan Greenway On IR, Activates Jon Merrill
It’s good news and bad news on the injury front for the Wild. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated defenseman Jon Merrill off injured reserve which is the good news. However, the bad news is that winger Jordan Greenway has been placed on IR to make room for Merrill’s return.
Merrill suffered an arm injury while playing for the United States at the World Championship, undergoing surgery soon after. He missed the entire preseason and while he was cleared for contact a little more than a week ago, Minnesota was cautious in bringing him back. The 30-year-old had a career year last season, notching 20 points in 69 games while logging over 17 minutes per night which helped him earn a three-year extension back in January.
As for Greenway, his return to the lineup was short-lived. He was activated off IR back on Thursday but lasted just six shifts before suffering an upper-body injury that evidently will keep him out for at least the next week. The 25-year-old is an important secondary scorer for the Wild that contributes plenty of hits as well but he’ll be waiting a little while before he gets a shot at his second game of the season; Michael Russo of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that the team is still waiting to get an idea of how much time Greenway will miss.
Minnesota Wild Loan Vladislav Firstov To KHL; Recall Mason Shaw
Jordan Greenway‘s return to the Minnesota Wild lineup lasted just six shifts. The bruising forward managed to land four hits during that time, but after leaving with an upper-body injury he was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game. Head coach Dean Evason told reporters including Michael Russo of The Athletic after the game that Greenway would be evaluated today and won’t play tomorrow afternoon in Boston.
With that news, it makes sense that Mason Shaw is back in the AHL transaction portal and on his way back to the NHL level. Shaw had only been sent down a few days ago when it was clear that Greenway would be returning. More importantly, perhaps, is that the portal also includes Vladislav Firstov, who has been reassigned by the team to Torpedo Nizhny Novogrod of the KHL.
Firstov, 21, was a second-round pick of the Wild in 2019 and signed his entry-level contract in March. The young Russian forward hadn’t played in his home country for years, coming over to spend his draft year in the USHL and then the last three seasons at the University of Connecticut. After just one game with the Iowa Wild this season, he’s apparently on his way back overseas to continue his development in the KHL.
Notably, he remains under contract with the Wild, so this isn’t a long-term plan. But the team will lose at least a bit of control over his deployment and development this season as he plays in Russia. In eight games down the stretch with Iowa last season he managed just two assists, meaning he’ll have to wait even longer for his first professional goal in North America.
Minnesota Wild Activate Jordan Greenway
8:22 PM: Greenway’s current return effort could end up short-lived. The Athletic’s Joe Smith reported that Greenway will not return to tonight’s game against the Vancouver Canucks. Greenway apparently suffered an upper-body injury during play. We will have more information on the nature of this injury as it becomes available.
5:05 PM:When the Minnesota Wild sent forward Mason Shaw back to the AHL yesterday, it was a sign that injured forward Jordan Greenway was nearing a return to the active roster. Today, his return was made official. The Wild have announced that Greenway has been activated off of injured reserve, and he is expected to make his season debut in just a few hours when the Wild take on the Vancouver Canucks.
Greenway, 25, has missed the first few Wild contests recovering from the shoulder surgeries he underwent this summer. The Wild are still looking for their first victory of the season, and the return of Greenway could help them get back into the win column. Last season, Greenway was one third of the team’s “GREEF” line, skating with Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno. Together on that line, each of the three players enjoyed extremely successful seasons on both ends of the ice.
While it might take some time for Greenway to return to playing as he did last season, he could represent an immediate improvement to the team’s defensive fortunes if his old line is reunited. The Wild’s ability to keep pucks out of their net has been under great scrutiny in the early days of this season, so getting a true shutdown line back on the ice could go a long way towards righting the ship on that front.
If nothing else, though, the Wild are sure to be happy to have Greenway, ever energetic and hard-working, back on the ice.
Minnesota Wild Reassign Mason Shaw To AHL
The Minnesota Wild announced Wednesday via Twitter that the team has reassigned forward Mason Shaw to the AHL’s Iowa Wild.
With forward Jordan Greenway now ready to go after missing the team’s first three games of the season with an injury, the team had no use for a second extra forward on the active roster. Greenway missed training camp and the beginning of the season as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery.
Shaw is the captain of the Iowa Wild, but he’s also poised to be at the top of Minnesota’s call-up list throughout the season. The 23-year-old does now require waivers, but as he passed through less than 30 days ago, he can be shuttled up and down at will for the time being. He played one game during his call-up, skating just 5:46 in Minnesota’s 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.
Top prospect Marco Rossi is set to reenter the lineup now after getting minuscule looks in his first two games of the season, and he could get a shot on a more offensively inclined line between Frederick Gaudreau and Matt Boldy. Connor Dewar will likely be the team’s 13th forward, for the time being, making room for Greenway to return to his checking line role with Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno.
Central Notes: Blackhawks, Wild Injuries, Jets
There will be teams that need to clear salary before the regular season gets underway next month. There aren’t many squads that have enough room to take on a contract but the Blackhawks have made it known that they are open to discussing such a move, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago-Sun Times. While Chicago clearly isn’t looking to win now, their impetus for doing such a move would be to pick up some other future assets along with the contract of the veteran player they’d be acquiring. Per CapFriendly, the team has roughly $7.5MM in cap room right now and while they’ll want to leave some wiggle room for injury recalls, they certainly will have enough flexibility left to make this type of trade.
More from the Central where St. Louis and Arizona will play the first-ever NHL game in Kansas tonight:
- The bad news for the Wild is that they’ll be without both defenseman Jon Merrill and winger Jordan Greenway when the regular season gets underway. However, as Michael Russo of The Athletic notes (subscription link), both players are expected back within the first five to ten games of the season. Merrill was injured in the opening game at the World Championship back in the spring while Greenway underwent offseason shoulder surgery with Russo noting that he recently had another procedure done as well. Neither player will be out long enough to be LTIR-eligible but Minnesota has enough cap space to not need the LTIR relief anyway.
- The Jets appear likely to carry eight defensemen on their roster to start the season, suggests Jeff Hamilton of the Winnipeg Free Press. With their six returning regulars from 2021-22, that leaves a couple of roster spots open. Ville Heinola and Dylan Samberg would appear to be the favorites for the final two slots but only if they’re going to be in the top six. That could have newcomer Kyle Capobianco and younger Leon Gawanke (who is now waiver-eligible) on the outside looking in, making them a pair of possible claim candidates in the coming weeks.