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Liam Ohgren

Wild Recall Liam Ohgren On Emergency Basis

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With winger Mats Zuccarello landing on injured reserve for the next few weeks and center Joel Eriksson Ek’s availability for tomorrow in question after exiting Thursday’s victory over Montreal, the Wild needed an extra forward.  They’ve now made that move, announcing the recall of Liam Ohgren from AHL Iowa on an emergency basis.

The 20-year-old broke camp with Minnesota and has played in seven games with them so far this season.  However, he was held off the scoresheet and his playing time dwindled quickly; he failed to reach eight minutes of playing time over his last three games.  As a result, they elected to send him down to the minors at the end of October in the hopes of getting him more minutes.

Ohgren got into four games with Iowa while on assignment, scoring four goals, three of which came in his last game back on Saturday against Rockford.  If he does get into Minnesota’s lineup, it’ll likely be a short-lived recall as they undoubtedly would prefer him playing in a top role in the minors over spot duty with the Wild so once Eriksson Ek is able to play, Ohgren will probably be sent back down soon after.

Wild Assign Liam Öhgren, Luke Toporowski To AHL

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The Wild have assigned 2022 first-round pick Liam Öhgren to AHL Iowa, the team announced Thursday. They also activated depth winger Luke Toporowski from season-opening injured reserve and sent him to Iowa along with Öhgren.

Öhgren’s reassignment prefaces the likely return of forward Ryan Hartman tomorrow from the upper-body injury that’s sidelined him for the past five games, as relayed by Michael Russo of The Athletic. But Hartman was never on IR, and they had an open roster spot anyway, so it’s not a forced transaction to create roster space. Instead, it’s a legitimate demotion for a talented but unpolished youngster who’s struggled to make an NHL impact this season.

The 20-year-old Öhgren is still new to the North American scene. The Wild signed him to his entry-level contract shortly after drafting him in the summer of 2022 but loaned him to Sweden’s Djurgårdens IF and Färjestad BK in back-to-back seasons, sliding the deal twice before finally recalling him from his overseas loan at the end of last season. The 6’1″ left-winger had a goal and assist in four games for the Wild down the stretch, averaging 14:31 per game and registering eight shots on goal.

Öhgren has shown his goal-scoring ability in the professional ranks, lighting the lamp 12 times in 26 games for Färjestad last season in the Swedish Hockey League. While he may have an NHL-ready shot, his early-season audition after making the opening night roster shows he’s got more work to do, going pointless with a -2 rating in seven appearances. He was plopped in fourth-line minutes alongside Jakub Lauko and either Frédérick Gaudreau or Marat Khusnutdinov at center, so he didn’t have the highest-skill linemates to work with. Still, he struggled to control possession, posting a 45.6 CF% and 42.5 xGF% at even strength, which are both well below team averages. He was limited to eight shots on net on 15 attempts, and he averaged just 9:33 per game.

He’ll now get the chance to work on his game in Iowa, where he went without a point and posted a -4 rating in three appearances to end last season. He’ll likely play a starring role on an understaffed team that’s 1-6-1 through their first eight games, although they did just get 2024 AHL All-Star Graeme Clarke added from the Wild’s SOIR.

They’re also adding Toporowski, whose presence on SOIR evaded us at PHR at the beginning of the season and had been absent from our roster tracker. The 23-year-old Iowa native was acquired by Minnesota from the Bruins in last year’s Pat Maroon swap and is in the second season of the two-year entry-level contract he signed with Boston in the summer of 2023. He suited up in 66 AHL contests between Providence and Iowa last season, scoring 12 goals and adding 16 assists for 28 points. The 5’11” left-winger will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.

Liam Ohgren, Jesper Wallstedt Expected To Make Wild Roster

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Minnesota is expected to maintain top prospects Liam Ohgren and Jesper Wallstedt on their opening night roster, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. Minnesota’s brass has named both players as favorites to make the team since the start of training camp.

The Wild are showing no hesitation in placing perhaps the league’s best goalie prospect – Wallstedt – into a three-man rotation with Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson. All three goaltenders made two appearances in the preseason, with Wallstedt leading the trio in save percentage with a .930 to Fleury’s .925 and Gustavsson’s .898.

Fleury and Gustavsson split starts last year, making 40 and 45 appearances respectively. Neither were particularly productive, each posting save percentages below .900 – a feat Fleury hadn’t managed since his rookie season of 2005-06. Those muddling performances leave plenty of room for excitement in Minnesota’s goaltending room – something Wallstedt may be able to bring quickly. The former first-round pick has posted two strong seasons as an AHL starter, collectively posting 40 wins and a .909 save percentage in 83 appearances.

Ohgren should have a much clearer path to an NHL role, having spent five preseason games on the team’s third-line. He certainly seemed comfortable in the role, posting one goal and one assist – the same statline he managed in his first four NHL games at the end of last season. An upper-body injury delayed the start of Ohgren’s 2023-24 to late November, but he played well immediately upon returning, ultimately recording 19 points in 27 games in Sweden’s SHL –  the highest scoring pace of any U20 SHL player last season. Wild general manager Bill Guerin has previously praised Ohgren’s ability to produce from any spot in the lineup, which could mean he’ll have to work his way up to a high-usage role – though a fully healthy season could make quick work of that challenge.

Both Ohgren and Wallstedt seem poised to bring big impacts to the Minnesota lineup – a welcome relief to the team that ranked in the bottom 15 of both goals scored and goals allowed last season. They’ll each be names to watch closely, as Ohgren fights for healthy footing and Wallstedt looks to claw above two proven NHL starters.

Central Notes: Minnesota Injuries, Perfetti, Ohgren

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The Minnesota Wild are nursing a few injuries up-and-down the roster in addition to star forward Matt Boldy missing the next few weeks due to a lower-body injury. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports Reese Johnson, Pavel Novak, and Michael Milne are all out with mild upper-body injuries with the latter having yet to practice with the team during training camp.

None of the three were expected to be impact players for the Wild this season with Johnson having the highest odds of the trio to crack the opening night roster. Johnson joined Minnesota this offseason on a one-year league minimum contract and already has seven goals and 17 points in 141 games with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2021-2024. Johnson would be isolated to a bottom-six role with the Wild but will likely start in a ’first man up’ role with AHL Iowa.

Novak and Milne are starting their third seasons with the Wild organization but have exclusively played in the minor leagues. Novak is coming off a 2023-24 season in which he primarily played for the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders scoring 14 goals and 27 points in 44 contests. Milne has yet to be demoted to the ECHL as he scored eight goals and 21 points in 40 games for the AHL Wild last year in a bottom-six role when healthy.

Other Central notes:

  • The Winnipeg Jets and forward Cole Perfetti made zero progress on an extension over the weekend reports Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun. The negotiations appear to be a classic case of the player asking too much from the organization’s perspective and the team offering too low from the player’s perspective. Billeck also reported the Jets are unwilling to consider the recent short-term deal for Dawson Mercer and the long-term deal for Dylan Guenther as comparables to Perfetti. He’s still staying on the ice to prepare for the regular season but he and the team have a little over two weeks to get an extension done befor the start of the regular season on October 9th.
  • Back in Minnesota, the organization is eager about the first full season for forward prospect Liam Ohgren. General manager Bill Guerin believes Ohgren can be a flexible winger for the team this season by saying, “The thing I like about Liam, he can play on all four lines. I really feel like Liam can complement any of the four lines he plays on, which is good for him. That brings a value at a young age, and the fact we could fit him in the top six or he can play a different role, that’s a benefit” (Subscription Article). Ohgren scored one goal and two points over four games in his NHL debut last season after scoring 12 goals and 19 points in 26 games for the SHL’s Färjestad BK.

Snapshots: Bourque, Ohgren, Hurlbert

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It’s becoming abundantly clear that Mavrik Bourque will be on the Stars’ opening night roster after being crowned the AHL’s Most Valuable Player last season.

The 22-year-old center is “ready for the NHL,” and it’s his “turn to start grabbing it,” Dallas general manager Jim Nill told NHL.com’s Tracey Myers. Bourque, a late first-round pick by Dallas in 2020, exploded to lead the AHL with 77 points (26 G, 51 A) in 71 games last season with the Texas Stars. It was just his second professional campaign after completing his final season of junior hockey with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes in 2022, where he won a league championship and was crowned playoff MVP.

Bourque has just one regular-season NHL game under his belt, going without a point in 10:56 of ice time against the Blackhawks on April 6 last season. But he’ll likely get a crack in a top-nine role come opening night as the team attempts to replace veteran Joe Pavelski, who confirmed his retirement last month, by committee. The Stars hope Bourque will be the latest in a string of prospects that become impact players immediately upon landing NHL minutes, following Wyatt Johnston and the recent graduation of Logan Stankoven to a full-time role.

More notes from around the league:

  • Sticking in the Central, the Wild find themselves in a similar spot with recent first-round pick Liam Ohgren, who feels he’s ready to land a spot on the roster out of training camp. “I’m here to take a spot,” he said to NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce. “I want to play in the NHL next year. Not only that, I want to make an impact so we can go on and win a Stanley Cup. That’s my main goal.” Ohgren, the 19th overall selection of the 2022 draft, signed his entry-level contract a while back but only arrived from his native Sweden near the end of last season. He played four games for the Wild down the stretch, scoring a goal and an assist while averaging 14:31 per game. It’s important for the cap-strapped Wild to get value out of players on entry-level contracts, something they could do this season by sticking Ohgren in a top-nine role.
  • It’s already time to start looking at some top names for the 2026 NHL Draft. One of the early top targets is 16-year-old forward JP Hurlbert, who announced on his Instagram today that he’s committed to Michigan. Hurlbert will spend the next two seasons in the U.S. National Team Development Program before heading to the Wolverines as a freshman in 2026-27. The Allen, Texas native has lit up the youth ranks with the Stars’ youth club, recording 76 points (40 G, 36 A) in 45 games with their U-16 squad last season.

Wild Recall Liam Ohgren

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The Wild have recalled left-wing prospect Liam Öhgren from AHL Iowa, per a team announcement. The 2022 first-round pick is now in line to make his NHL debut in the final few games of the regular season.

Öhgren, 20, spent the season on loan to Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League but was assigned to Iowa early this month after Färjestad was upset by Rögle BK in a 4-0 sweep in the SHL quarterfinals. Injuries kept him out for most of the first half of the campaign, but that didn’t stop him from fitting well into a top-six role with Färjestad upon his return. The speedy, sharp-shooting winger notched 12 goals and 19 points in 26 games with a +12 rating, although he was held without a point in their abbreviated playoff run.

His early adjustment to a weak Iowa squad hasn’t been terribly promising, but a small sample shouldn’t count for much. He’s yet to record a point in three games with the Wild’s top farm team with a -4 rating, but he did log five shots on goal in his last outing, a 4-3 loss to Rockford yesterday.

The 19th overall pick in 2022 is a top-three prospect in Minnesota’s system, checking in behind Swedish netminder Jesper Wallstedt and Russian winger Danila Yurov in The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler’s 2024 ranking of NHL prospect pools. He was bar none the best player in the Swedish junior circuit during his draft year, potting 33 goals in just 30 games with Djurgårdens IF’s U-20 club in the J20 Nationell. His 1.93 points per game led the league among qualified skaters, as did his +41 rating, 11 points higher than the second-best, teammate and Sabres prospect Noah Östlund.

That performance rightfully earned him Best Forward honors in the Nationell, and he also cracked the top Swedish national junior team roster at 17 and won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Juniors. He returned for both the 2023 and 2024 tournaments, serving as captain for this year’s squad and taking home the silver medal, although he was limited to two assists in seven games.

The Stockholm native isn’t quite ready for full-time NHL work and is likely a long shot to make next season’s opening night roster, although it shouldn’t be ruled out. His entry-level contract will slide to next season as he’s guaranteed to have played less than 10 NHL games in 2023-24, meaning he’ll remain signed through 2027.

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.

Minnesota Wild Prospect Liam Öhgren Potentially Out Months With Injury

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Minnesota Wild forward prospect Liam Öhgren still has no timeline for a return from an injury that’s already kept him out for three weeks, according to a report from Värmlands Folkblad’s Johan Ekberg and Simon Hennix. Wild general manager Bill Guerin told The Athletic’s Michael Russo that Minnesota is aware of the injury and is in contact with Öhgren to determine a recovery plan, along with his team in Sweden’s SHL, Färjestad BK.

The injury hasn’t cost Öhgren, 19, any regular-season time yet, but it will soon. He’s also missed all of Färjestad’s four Champions Hockey League games to kick off the season.

Selected 19th overall in 2022, Öhgren has remained in Sweden since draft day despite signing his entry-level contract in the summer of 2022. Minnesota loaned him to Djurgårdens IF in Sweden’s second-tier Allsvenskan for the 2022-23 season, where he posted 11 goals and 20 points in 36 regular-season games and added 13 points in 17 SHL qualification matches.

Hennix said there is extreme uncertainty surrounding Öhgren’s return to play, which could be in the coming days or “months away,” likely depending on the treatment plan decided on by Öhgren, Färjestad, and the Wild.

Öhgren is likely to make the jump to North America for the 2024-25 season with the AHL’s Iowa Wild.

Prospect Notes: Carlsson, Clara, Wild

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The Ducks drafted center Leo Carlsson with the second-overall pick in the draft last month and he is widely considered to be one of the most NHL-ready prospects of this draft class.  However, Carlsson’s agent Matt Keator told Jim Alexander of The Press-Enterprise that there is no rush for him to make a decision on where the youngster will play in 2023-24.  Carlsson is under contract for two more years with Orebro of the SHL but as Carlsson is a first-round pick and Sweden has a transfer agreement with the NHL, a contract with Anaheim can supersede that.  Carlsson had 25 points in 44 games last season in Sweden’s top division and a decision on where he plays next season will be jointly made between him and the team.

Other prospect news from around the hockey world:

  • There were a total of a dozen NHL-drafted players in the recently-completed CHL Import Draft. One name that wasn’t on that list was Ducks goaltender Damian Clara.  Lisa Dillman of the Orange County Register notes that several CHL squads expressed an interest in bringing over the 18-year-old Italian but that the netminder remained committed to playing on loan in Sweden’s second-tier Allsvenskan next season with Brynas.  He has two years remaining on his deal over there but if things don’t go as planned for him next season, Clara would be eligible for selection in the Import Draft next summer as well.
  • Wild prospects Danila Yurov and Liam Ohgren both intend to play in North America in 2024-25, relays Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscription link). The pair were first-round picks back in 2022, going 19th and 22nd overall, respectively, and are two of Minnesota’s top prospects.  Both are under contracts with their club teams (Metallurg Magnitogorsk for Yurov and Farjestad for Ohgren) next season but the plan is for Yurov to sign once that contract expires while Ohgren, already signed, will have his deal slide once more.  The Wild will need an influx of young, cost-controllable talent and these two could push to make the jump to the NHL right away once they sign.

Minor Transactions: 05/10/23

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The eyes of the hockey world are on two significant NHL contests tonight. The Toronto Maple Leafs are fighting to keep their season alive against the Florida Panthers, while the Edmonton Oilers are looking to tie their series against the Vegas Golden Knights at two games a piece.

While the NHL playoffs continue on, teams across the hockey world are getting significant offseason work done. We’ll keep track of any notable moves those teams make here:

  • Minnesota Wild 2022 first-round pick Liam Ohgren has transferred to Farjestad BK of the SHL, according to a team announcement. Ohgren spent this past season in Sweden’s second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan looking to help his longtime club Djurgardens IF achieve immediate promotion back to the SHL. While Djurgarden ultimately failed, falling in a seven-game promotion series final to MoDo, Ohgren himself had a strong season. The 19-year-old scored 19 goals and 33 points in 53 combined regular-season and postseason games. He’ll now join the 2022 SHL champions for next season, and then potentially head to North America to play in the NHL or AHL with the Wild organization in 2024-25.
  • Former NHL bottom-sixer Frederik Gauthier has signed a one-year contract extension with Swiss National League side HC Ajoie. Gauthier signed with Ajoie last summer after spending seven seasons as an NHL-AHL tweener in North America. He has nearly 200 NHL games on his resume, and scored 23 points in 52 games last season. Now 28 years old, this contract extension ensures Gauthier will spend another season in Switzerland before potentially contemplating making a return to North American ice.
  • David Warsofsky, a former NHL defenseman and AHL All-Star, has signed a one-year contract extension to remain with his current club, the DEL’s Augsburg Panthers. The 32-year-old blueliner was never quite able to overcome the disadvantage his five-foot-eight frame presented when attempting to establish himself in the NHL, though he nonetheless became a quality player at the AHL level. Warsofsky’s 2016-17 season was his best, as he scored 47 points in 58 games for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, and he now two years removed from his most recent AHL game Warsofsky has become a solid DEL offensive defenseman. He scored 21 points in 36 games last season at Augsburg and represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
  • Reigning Liiga champions Tappara Tampere issued updates on the contracts of quite a few players today, including one on a quality NHL prospect. Calgary Flames 2022 second-round pick Topi Ronni has signed a two-year extension to remain with Tappara until the end of the 2024-25 season. Ronni split the season between Tappara’s main team and their U20 team, scoring 25 points in 19 U20 games and 5 points in 22 games in Liiga. In addition to the news on Ronni, Tappara also announced that they have signed a two-year deal with former Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Otto Somppi, 25. He had 19 points in 59 for Lukko this past season and will now head to Tampere to join the league champions. They have also signed former Florida Panther Anton Levtchi to a three-year extension, locking him down after he scored 25 points in 29 games after returning mid-season from the Panthers organization.
  • Former Philadelphia Flyer Linus Hogberg has signed a two-year contract with the SHL’s Frolunda HC. Hogberg, a 2016 sixth-round pick, is a left-shot defenseman who spent several seasons developing his game with Vaxjo and HC Vita Hasten in his home country before crossing the pond in 2021 to play in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Hogberg’s time with the Phantoms was decent, and he even earned five NHL games, though he didn’t fully establish himself in the organization’s plans. As a result, he left in the middle of this past year to re-join the SHL, and now has his club for the next two years of his career.
  • Sergei Kostitsyn, a former 50-point scorer with the Nashville Predators, has reportedly signed a one-year extension to remain with Metallurg Zhlobin, the champions of the Belarusian Extraleague. Kostitsyn has had quite the journey since leaving the KHL after 2018-19. The 36-year-old has had stops in Romania and Ukraine before signing back in his native Belarus for this season. Now, he’ll stay with Zhlobin looking to help them defend their recent title.
  • 2015 third-round pick and former Soo Greyhounds star Blake Speers will not return to HockeyAllsvenskan’s Vasteras IK for next season. Speers’ debut in Sweden was a difficult one, as he managed only four goals and 14 points in 38 games. He did help Vasteras reach the second division’s playoffs, but ultimately now will have to look elsewhere to continue his professional career. Part of the trade that landed Taylor Hall with the Arizona Coyotes, Speers has five NHL games on his resume.
  • Arvid Henrikson, a former Montreal Canadiens and (briefly) San Jose Sharks prospect, has signed with Vasterviks IK in HockeyAllsvenskan. The 25-year-old was a 2016 seventh-round pick of the Canadiens and was part of the trade that net the team a fifth-round pick when they acted as a “cap broker” to facilitate the trade of Nick Bonino to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Henrikson only played in one game as a member of the Sharks organization, an April 15th win over the Tucson Roadrunners, and did not see his ATO converted into a full-time opportunity. Now he begins his pro career in earnest overseas.

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