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Joseph Cramarossa

Overseas Notes: Raanta, Gélinas, Cramarossa

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Longtime NHL netminder Antti Raanta is in talks to join Swedish Hockey League club Linköping HC for 2025-26, Mattias Persson of Hockeynews.se reports. The 35-year-old Finn suited up for Genève-Servette in Switzerland this year after retiring from the NHL, posting a 2.74 GAA and .902 SV% in 24 games. The 2022 Jennings Trophy winner last played with the Hurricanes in 2023-24, a disastrous campaign that saw him land on waivers amid posting a .872 SV% in 24 games behind one of the league’s better defenses.

Here’s more on the international market:

  • Former Avalanche and Devils defenseman Éric Gélinas is staying in Finland with Liiga club Luuko for another season, the team announced. Gélinas, now 33, will suit up for the same team in back-to-back years for the first time since a four-year run with Sweden’s Rögle BK from 2018 to 2022. The 6’4″, 227-lb lefty with a booming slapshot was limited by injury to 21 games with Lukko this season but managed 6-11–17 for his best per-game offensive showing in quite some time. A second-round pick of New Jersey in 2009, Gélinas had 14-41–55 in 189 career NHL games with them and Colorado from 2013 to 2017.
  • Austria’s Vienna Capitals will not be renewing the contract of NHL veteran Joseph Cramarossa, the club announced earlier this week. Cramarossa, 32, signed on with the ICEHL club last offseason after parts of two seasons in Germany and posted 8-15–23 in 32 games. The center last touched NHL ice in 2022-23, suiting up four times for the Wild before they mutually terminated his contract for a mid-season move overseas. He has 5-8–13 in 68 NHL appearances with the Ducks, Canucks, and Wild – 59 of which came in the 2016-17 campaign.

Evening Notes: Gustavsson, Crammarossa, Iowa

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Joe Smith of The Athletic writes that it appears the Minnesota Wild and goaltender Filip Gustavsson will decide their contract dispute in arbitration. Smith writes that the deal will get done but will most likely be done through an arbitrator as the sides appear unlikely to reach an agreement without the intervention. The Wild and Gustavsson are set to go to arbitration on August 4th, and with Ilya Samsonov’s ruling now official and Jeremy Swayman’s case set to be heard later this week, both sides should have a clearer picture of what would be a fair contract from the club and the 25-year-old goaltender.

Gustavsson excelled in his first year in Minnesota after coming over in an off-season trade from the Ottawa Senators. It was expected that the native of Skelleftea, Sweden would backup Marc-Andre Fleury, however by the time the playoffs rolled around Gustavsson owned the Minnesota net having gone 22-9-7 with a .931 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average.

The Wild are dealing with a very precarious cap situation as they deal with the blowback from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts that are eating up about $15MM of Minnesota’s cap space. However, they do still have around $5MM in cap space remaining to re-sign the young netminder.

In other evening notes:

  • Joseph Cramarossa has officially signed a contract with the Löwen Frankfurt of the DEL league. Cramarossa played in the NHL as recently as the past season as he played four games for the Minnesota Wild, scoring just a single goal. He also posted four goals and five assists in 18 games with the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Back in January of this year, Cramarossa had his contract terminated by the Wild and at that time he went overseas to play for Adlern Mannheim of the DEK. While in Germany Cramarossa posted two goals and six assists in 15 games.
  • Lastly, the Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL have announced that they’ve come to terms with defensemen Robbie Stucker and Ben Brinkman on contracts for the 2023-24 season. The club also announced that forward Jake Durflinger has agreed to a deal as well. Brinkman and Stucker were formerly teammates at the University of Minnesota from 2018-21 while Durflinger will enter his second season with the Heartlanders having played 50 games last season posting 10 goals and 10 assists. The 25-year-old finished the season strong scoring seven of his ten goals between March 18th and April 7th.

Minor Transactions: 07/21/23

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Although it’s generally a slow period for player movement in the NHL as teams hone in on arbitration cases, that isn’t the case for clubs in minor and overseas professional leagues. Just as the Maple Leafs begin an arbitration hearing with netminder Ilya Samsonov (no pre-arbitration agreement could be reached, according to The Hockey News’ David Alter) teams in quite a few leagues across the world, including the German DEL in particular, have been active making moves. As always, we’ll keep track of the notable ones here.

  • 2014 fifth-overall pick Michael Dal Colle is nearing a contract with the DEL’s Iserlohn Roosters, according to a report from Eishockey News in Germany. Dal Colle, 27, is a former top prospect who began his European pro career last season with TPS Turku in the Finnish Liiga. Dal Colle wasn’t horrible, but he only managed four goals and a total of 19 points in 36 games for Turku, and has now ended his association with the club at one year. The former AHL All-Star now heads to the Roosters, who finished the 2022-23 campaign 13th in the DEL standings.
  • Another forward with some NHL games on his resume rumored to be nearing a contract in the DEL is Joseph Cramarossa, a former Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild player. Cramarossa split last season between the Wild organization and Adler Mannheim in the DEL. He played with the Wild in both Iowa and Minnesota until he was placed on unconditional waivers so he could join Mannheim. After scoring eight points in 15 regular-season games and just one point in seven postseason games, Cramarossa has made the choice to continue in the DEL and join the Frankfurt Lions, a mid-table team from last season.
  • 2011 12th overall pick Ryan Murphy has signed a contract with EHC Red Bull Salzburg of the Central European ICEHL, according to a team announcement. This signing confirms Murphy will spend a second year playing in Europe since he last played in North America. Murphy, a 30-year-old defenseman, spent last season with Ufa Salavat Yulayev in the KHL, scoring 17 points in 43 games and earning the right to play in the KHL All-Star Game. Murphy was the 2020-21 AHL Defenseman of the Year and brings a stellar resume (including 175 games of NHL experience) to Austria and the defending ICEHL champions.
  • 25-year-old former NCAA winger Kohen Olischefski began this season with the hope of establishing himself in the AHL and earning a full-time spot with the Rochester Americans. While he finished the year playing postseason games for the Amerks, Olischefski spent most of the season in the ECHL with the Cincinnati Cyclones. Olischefski could only manage two goals in 16 AHL games and scored 26 points in 43 ECHL games. Now, the versatile forward has signed a contract with Dusseldorf EG in the DEL, choosing to continue his pro career overseas after his rookie campaign in North America.
  • EHC Red Bull Munich, the defending DEL Champions, have signed former Detroit Red Wing Adam Almquist. The move replaces former AHL and DEL Defenseman of the Year Zach Redmond, who agreed to a mutual contract termination after a season spent playing a significant role on Munich’s blueline. The 32-year-old Almquist last played in North America in 2013-14, scoring 53 points in 73 games for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins and earning two games with the Red Wings. He scored his first (and only, to this date) NHL goal that season, before moving on to have a strong pro career in Europe with stops in Sweden, Switzerland, Belarus, and Russia.
  • Alexandre Grenier, a former quality prospect in the Vancouver Canucks system, has signed with the Cologne Sharks in the DEL. The 31-year-old 2011 90th overall pick is a two-time AHL All-Star who last played in North America in 2018-19 with his hometown Laval Rocket. He’s had a successful run overseas since then, including a season with Langnau in Switzerland that saw him post 48 points in 47 games. Grenier is no stranger to the DEL, either, and has 84 points in 99 career games in Germany’s top league.
  • Elias Rosén, cousin of Buffalo Sabres first-rounder Isak Rosén, has signed with the Vaxjo Lakers in the SHL, the defending Swedish champions. Rosen wrapped up a four-year collegiate career with Bemidji State University last season and made his pro debut on an ATO with the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks. The five-foot-ten left-shot defenseman was an accomplished player in college, earning First-Team All-Star honors in his conference for three consecutive years, including his 2020-21 campaign that saw him named conference Defensive Player of the Year. He acquitted himself well in a limited sample size of games with Kansas City, scoring nine points in 14 games, and has now earned a shot to establish himself with a top team in one of the best leagues outside the NHL.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Joseph Cramarossa Clears Unconditional Waivers

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Jan 13: Cramarossa has cleared waivers and his contract has been terminated.

Jan 12: The Minnesota Wild have placed Joseph Cramarossa on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract termination, according to Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets. He is in the second season of a two-year, two-way contract signed in 2021 and will be an unrestricted free agent if not claimed. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Cramarossa has a deal with Mannheim of the DEL.

Cramarossa, 30, has played four games for Minnesota this season, scoring a goal while averaging fewer than eight minutes. Most of his year has been spent in the minors with the Iowa Wild, where he has nine points in 18 games.

Usually, contract terminations like this are a sign that the player received a better offer overseas, though Cramarossa doesn’t have any previous experience playing in Europe. A third-round pick by the Anaheim Ducks in 2011, he has spent his entire career grinding in the minor leagues, only seeing significant NHL action in 2016-17.

If he is done in North America, his NHL career ends with 68 total games and 13 points.

This move opens up an additional contract slot for the Wild, though they already had five available to them. It is much more likely just allowing a player to pursue a different opportunity.

Minnesota Wild Recall Sammy Walker

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that forward Sammy Walker has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. In a corresponding move, forward Joseph Cramarossa has been sent down.

Walker, 23, has been in the midst of an extremely impressive professional debut this season. After a four-year collegiate career at the University of Minnesota, Walker signed an entry-level contract with the Wild in August.

A 2017 seventh-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Walker leads AHL Iowa in scoring with 22 points in 21 games, seven points clear of the next-highest scorer, defenseman Joe Hicketts. Walker’s recall puts him in a position to make his NHL debut after just over 20 games of professional action.

It’s a recall that indicates that coach Dean Evason wants to inject some more offensive flair into his team than what Cramarossa is able to provide.

The 30-year-old veteran depth player has scored a goal in four games so far this season but has just 13 points in 68 career NHL games. He’ll head back to Iowa where he has seven points in 15 games.

As the Wild look to increase their separation in the standings from the Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators, and St. Louis Blues, they’ll hope that Walker can add to an offense that has been on fire in recent games.

Minnesota Wild Recall Joseph Cramarossa

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that forward Joseph Cramarossa has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

The move fills a lone vacant spot on the team’s roster, giving them some additional reinforcements as they prepare for a four-game road trip that begins Sunday in Dallas.

Cramarossa, 30, has played in four games for the Wild so far this year and spent most of the season in Iowa. The winger bounced around a bit after a 2017 waiver claim but seems to have found a home in the Wild organization. This will be Cramarossa’s third straight season as a depth forward in Minnesota/Iowa, and he’s clearly valued for that role by Wild brass.

In 15 AHL games so far this year Cramarossa has seven points to go along with 47 penalty minutes. Overall, he has 68 NHL games on his resume and 13 points. While it’s unlikely that Cramarossa sees any major minutes for the Wild, his recall underscores the team’s desire to play with more physicality and grit.

The Wild added some major muscle when they acquired Ryan Reaves from the New York Rangers, and Cramarossa’s recall helps the Wild in the same areas Reaves was acquired to address.

Minnesota Wild Re-Assign Joseph Cramarossa

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Despite heading out on the road for a game in Nashville tomorrow, the Minnesota Wild have sent Joseph Cramarossa to the minor leagues. That leaves the team with an open roster spot, potentially for Brandon Duhaime to be activated if he is ready to return from injury.

Cramarossa, 30, has played in four games for the Wild this season, scoring a goal and recording eight hits. The minor league veteran isn’t really known for his offense even at the AHL level but can come in and play a fourth-line role without risk. He’ll likely be back up at some point this season when the team is dealing with more injuries, but shouldn’t be considered a full-time option.

Duhaime has been out since the beginning of the month, after scoring two goals and three points in his first ten games of the season. The uber-physical forward had 122 penalty minutes and 201 hits last season (his first) for the Wild, while also chipping in six goals. If he’s not ready, Cramarossa’s assignment could mean that Tyson Jost is going to re-enter the lineup after being made a healthy scratch recently.

The 24-year-old Jost hasn’t scored yet this season and failed to even register a shot on goal in each of his last two appearances. His ice time in those games was reduced severely, and it appears as though the coaching staff has moved in a different direction. If he gets another chance, he’ll have to show enough to warrant the $2MM cap hit he carries, especially given he’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the year. Currently, Jost looks like a potential non-tender candidate, given the threat of salary arbitration.

Minnesota Wild Recall Adam Beckman, Joseph Cramarossa

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Continuing with a busy Sunday of roster moves, the Minnesota Wild announced that they are bringing a pair of forwards up from the AHL, recalling Adam Beckman and Joseph Cramarossa. The team did not announced any corresponding moves. The transaction brings the Wild up to 23 players on their roster, the maximum. Importantly, the team had only been carrying 12 forwards after re-assigning Steven Fogarty on Friday. Now, they should have additional assurance up front.

Beckman, 21, was a third-round pick of the Wild back in 2019 and made his NHL debut last season. After three impressive seasons with the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL, Beckman turned pro at the tail-end of the 2020-21 season, recording five points in nine games as a member of the Iowa Wild. The forward became a full-time pro last season, getting into 68 games for Iowa where he scored 11 goals to go with 23 assists. This season, the young forward is off to a fast start, scoring three goals with three assists in six games for Iowa.

A long-time AHL veteran, Cramarossa, 30, has spent three seasons in the Wild organization, primarily with Iowa. The veteran did manage to get into one NHL game last season, marking the third season in which he did so. the 30-year-old’s most prominent NHL action came back in 2016-17 as a member of the Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks, where he recorded 10 points in 59 games. He’s had just five games of NHL action since then, but has become a reliable, physical forward at the AHL level. Cramarossa has four points and a whopping 23 penalty minutes in just eight games with Iowa to start this season.

Waivers: 10/03/22

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The waiver wire is full as teams continue to get closer to regular season rosters. These are the players available today, after Radim Zohorna and Magnus Hellberg were claimed from yesterday’s list.

Anaheim Ducks

Olli Juolevi
Justin Kirkland

Columbus Blue Jackets

Trey Fix-Wolansky
Gavin Bayreuther

Los Angeles Kings

T.J. Tynan

Minnesota Wild

Joe Hicketts
Joseph Cramarossa

Tampa Bay Lightning

Gemel Smith
Alex Barre-Boulet

Winnipeg Jets

Kevin Stenlund

Minnesota Wild Re-Sign Joseph Cramarossa

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Rather than ending at the deadline, the flurry of trades and signings essentially only began once the NHL Expansion Draft roster freeze began. Several hours later, it seems the final move has finally been reported. Amongst the chaos of several major trades a few key signings, the Minnesota Wild took care of some housekeeping with a new deal for depth forward Joseph Cramarossa. CapFriendly reports that Cramarossa has signed a two-year, two-way extension. The contract carries the minimum $750K NHL salary and AHL salary that escalates from $170K to $182.5K in year two.

Cramarossa, 28, is not the flashiest of forwards, with modest offensive totals even in the AHL. However, he continues to land two-way NHL contracts due to his solid defensive play at the forward position. A hard-working, versatile forward, Cramarossa is a nice depth piece that can be plugged in anywhere in the bottom-six.

Minnesota did just that this season, employing Cramarossa in a bottom-six role for four games. He also spent considerable time in a next-man-up role on the practice squad, only playing in eight games for AHL Iowa. Moving forward, Cramarossa will likely be based out of Iowa but has shown he can play at the top level if needed. Minnesota has a deep forward corps and is looking to add this summer, but should they need him Cramarossa played 59 games with the Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks in 2016-17, recording ten points and 60 PIM, so he is capable of playing a regular role if necessary.

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