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Zane McIntyre

Minor Transactions: 7/13/24

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The hockey summer has entered a standstill, with moves around Europe headlining much of the news. We’ll keep track of the notable signings here:

  • Starting in North America, former St. Louis Blues forward prospect Keean Washkurak has signed a one-year, minor league deal with the Belleville Senators. Washkurak entered unrestricted free agency this summer, after not receiving a qualifying offer from St. Louis. He didn’t have much to show prospective new teams, with just four goals and 10 points in 63 AHL games last season. It was another low-scoring and low-minutes year for Washkurak, who’s totaled a measly 46 points across 176 AHL games since turning pro in 2020. He’s so far spent his career on two two-way NHL contracts with the Blues – a status that he’ll now have to work his way back to with Belleville.
  • Goaltender Zane McIntyre has signed a one-year deal with the Straubing Tigers of the DEL, Germany’s top league. The move ends McIntyre’s nine-year tour around the AHL; a trip that took him through stops with six different clubs, including the Providence Bruins and Iowa Wild. McIntyre has generally filled a backup role throughout his career, ultimately totaling 153 wins and a .908 save percentage in 300 AHL games. He’s now set for his first full year in Europe, though he did spend a brief six games with the KHL’s Dynamo Riga during the 2020-21 season.
  • Kyle Keyser is joining the string of goaltenders moving internationally, signing a one-year deal with the Kunlun Red Star, China’s KHL club. Keyser has spent the last six seasons with the Providence Bruins, though he’s split his time between the roles of AHL backup and ECHL starter. The 25-year-old Keyser has totaled 29 wins and a .902 in 73 AHL games and 16 wins and a .891 in 42 ECHL across his career. He’ll fight for better production in a more prominent role with Kunlun.

* This post will be updated throughout the day.

Minnesota Wild Call Up Jesper Wallstedt, Reassign Zane McIntyre

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The Minnesota Wild have recalled high-end goaltending prospect Jesper Wallstedt, and reassigned Zane McIntyre to their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, per a team release. With netminder Filip Gustavsson currently on the injured reserve and upcoming back-to-back games next weekend, it would be reasonable to assume that Wallstedt will end up making his NHL debut for the Wild.

Coming to Minnesota as the 20th overall selection of the 2021 NHL Draft, the native of Västerås, Sweden has shattered all expectations through his brief time in North America. Even during his last year in the SHL during the 2021-22 season, Wallstedt impressed greatly with a .918 SV% and 1.98 GAA in 22 games as a 19-year-old.

Making his way to Iowa last year, the excitement began growing around Wallstedt, as he produced an 18-15-5 record in his rookie campaign, carrying a .908 SV% and a 2.68 GAA. He has continued his upward momentum in this AHL season as well, currently holding an 11-9-0 record with a .917 SV% and 2.54 GAA. He currently ranks sixth in save percentage through all goalies in the AHL with a minimum of 15 games played.

Unfortunately for Wallstedt, this will likely only serve as a brief stay in the NHL, with Gustavsson only expected to miss a few weeks, and Marc-Andre Fleury currently serving as the team’s primary starter. However, with 11 games in 20 days upcoming for the Wild, Wallstedt will have plenty of opportunity to prove his worth at the NHL level.

With Gustavsson signed until the 2025-26 season, and Fleury’s status beyond this year up in the air, Wallstedt will more than likely be the primary backup option for the Wild as soon as next season. If he continues to play how he has in both the SHL and the AHL, Minnesota could become one of the few teams across the league to have their long-term solution in the crease.

For McIntyre, he was originally brought up via an emergency loan on December 31st in correspondence with Gustavsson’s injury. In the three games that he has been available for, Fleury has started in all of them, with McIntyre failing to get any minutes throughout his time up in the NHL. He will now return to Iowa where he has a .884 SV% through 12 games this season.

Michael Russo of The Athletic was the first to report the Wild would be recalling Wallstedt. 

Gustavsson And Kaprizov Hurt, Wild Recall Two Players

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Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson and forward Kirill Kaprizov had to leave their game last night against the Winnipeg Jets.

Gustavsson left the game after the second period with an apparent lower-body injury and had to be replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury who dressed in his 999th career NHL game. Gustavsson allowed three goals on 22 shots before the injury issue and had been playing terrific since the Wild made a coaching change. With John Hynes behind the bench for Minnesota, Gustavsson has gone 8-2 with a .932 save percentage and 1.87 goals-against average.

Kaprizov on the other hand sat on the Wild bench in pain after taking two cross-checks to the back from Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon. The incident occurred in the third period and saw the cross-checks go unpenalized. It was the second time this year that Kaprizov has been hurt during a game in Winnipeg as the 26-year-old suffered a lower-body injury last season on March 8th as well. Much like Gustavsson’s injury, Kaprizov’s ailment couldn’t have come at a worse time as he has been terrific as of late under Hynes. Kaprizov has five goals and four assists in his past five games and is up to 34 points in 34 games this season. Both players are currently being evaluated by the Wild’s medical staff.

With the injuries to both players, the Wild have announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Zane McIntyre and forward Nic Petan from Iowa of the AHL. The 31-year-old McIntyre has not dressed in an NHL game since February of 2017 when he was a member of the Boston Bruins and has never won an NHL game in eight appearances. He will likely serve as a backup to Fleury today as the three-time Stanley Cup champion is expected to play in his 1000th career NHL game.

Petan has 165 games of NHL experience and dressed in one game earlier this season for the Wild. The 28-year-old has been terrific this season in the AHL posting 10 goals and 18 assists in 26 games with Iowa. The Wild finish off the calendar year today with a matchup against the Jets in the second half of their home and away series.

Minnesota Wild Extend Three Players

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Before free agency kicks off tomorrow afternoon, the Minnesota Wild are taking care of some small pieces. The team has announced they have signed Zane McIntyre, Dakota Mermis, and Nick Swaney each to a one-year, $775K extension, all of them being two-way deals.

Under reasonable expectations, all three players should be beginning the 2023-24 season with the team’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. Mermis has the most experience at the NHL level throughout the group, having played 27 games split between the Arizona Coyotes, New Jersey Devils, and now with the Wild. Over those 27 games, Mermis has produced pretty tepid numbers, scoring one goal and three assists, averaging about 15 minutes of ice time per night throughout his career. At the minor-league level, he has been much more serviceable, scoring five goals and 21 assists in 63 games last season in Iowa.

McIntyre’s last taste of NHL action came all the way back during the 2016-17 season, playing with the Boston Bruins, producing a record of 0-4-1 in eight games. For the last two years, McIntyre has been a part of the Minnesota Wild organization, earning a total record of 35-26-8. Last season was a bit of a rough stretch for McIntyre, as he ended the regular season with a SV% of only .899, 21 points lower than the previous year.

Lastly, Swaney has the least amount of experience at the NHL level, having only played one game last year for Minnesota. He was originally drafted 209th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft, not making the jump to the Wild organization until 2021. Despite being such a relatively low pick, Swaney has actually produced quite well at the AHL level, scoring 35 goals and 35 assists over 116 regular season games for the Iowa Wild. Even with injuries to the NHL roster, it is unlikely that Swaney will receive a call-up, but he does provide the organization with a bit of depth at the AHL level.

Minnesota Wild Return Zane McIntyre To AHL

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Jan 9: McIntyre has now been returned to the minor leagues, suggesting Gustavsson and Fleury (who left the team for personal reasons over the weekend) are ready to go.

Jan 6: Yesterday, we covered how Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson was dealing with an unspecified illness. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported yesterday that there was “no recall anticipated” despite Gustavsson’s status, but now it seems the team has changed course.

Today the Wild announced that goalie Zane McIntyre has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, on an emergency basis.

It’s possible that this recall could be in order for McIntyre to back up Marc-Andre Fleury for tomorrow’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, paving the way for a Gustavsson return on Sunday, which is the plan Russo suggested yesterday.

Gustavsson has been stellar so far for the Wild, posting a .924 save percentage in 15 games so far this season. With Gustavsson playing so well, the Wild will want to give him the time and space he needs to fully recover from his illness and get back to 100%.

For McIntyre, this recall affords him an (admittedly slight) chance to get into some NHL action for the first time in a half-decade. The 30-year-old goalie is in his second season with the Wild organization, serving as their AHL number-one last year and now helping top prospect Jesper Wallstedt as part of a tandem.

Iowa has struggled so far this season, and McIntyre hasn’t escaped those struggles, as he has an .888 save percentage this season. He was better last year, though, posting a .920 in 37 games.

Minnesota Wild Return Zane McIntyre To AHL

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Nov 29: McIntyre has been returned to the AHL, meaning Gustavsson is healthy again.

November 26: After sending him down a few days ago due to Marc-Andre Fleury’s return to the lineup, Zane McIntyre is back with the Minnesota Wild. The team recalled him today under emergency conditions, but it’s unclear at the moment as to which goalie is unavailable.

The Athletic’s Michael Russo notes that one of the team’s goalies had an issue today at practice and that the move is precautionary. While normally an emergency recall would wait until gameday tomorrow, the team has an earlier start and didn’t want to risk not having two goalies to start the game.

Forward Brandon Duhaime was also placed on injured reserve in a corresponding transaction. Yesterday, he was listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained on November 23 against Winnipeg, which prohibited him from playing in yesterday’s game against Toronto. It’s Duhaime’s second trip to injured reserve this year, as he missed the first two weeks of November with another upper-body injury. The Wild have not said whether or not it’s a re-injury.

McIntyre’s eight NHL games all came during the 2016-17 season, although he’s appeared on NHL rosters in situations like these multiple times since then. A 2010 draft choice of the Boston Bruins, this is the netminder’s second season in the Wild organization after the team signed him early on in 2021-22. He has a .917 save percentage, two shutouts, and a 23-17-3 record with the AHL’s Iowa Wild over the past two years.

Minnesota Wild Activate Marc-Andre Fleury

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The Minnesota Wild have their starting goaltender back. Marc-Andre Fleury has been activated from injured reserve, meaning Zane McIntyre is on his way back to the minor leagues.

Fleury, 37, ended up missing three games with an upper-body injury but the Wild actually did rather well in his absence. After giving up five goals and losing the first game without him, Filip Gustavsson came back with two strong performances, allowing just two goals on 50 shots to secure a pair of victories.

McIntyre didn’t appear in a game, and Fleury is now ready to jump right back in the net for the second half of the team’s current seven-game homestand.

The question some Wild fans will have is whether Gustavsson has earned enough to split the starts with Fleury for the rest of the season. The young goaltender has been good when called upon, posting a .914 save percentage through eight appearances. Fleury, meanwhile, has a .906, though that number is heavily influenced by some early-season struggles.

In his last five games before going down to injury, Fleury had posted a .943, allowing just eight goals on 141 shots.

Marc-Andre Fleury Out With Upper-Body Injury

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4:30 pm: The Wild have recalled McIntyre, while moving Fleury to injured reserve. Hunter Jones has been recalled to the AHL’s Iowa Wild in a corresponding move.

12:10 pm: The Minnesota Wild will be recalling a goaltender from the minor leagues, as Marc-Andre Fleury has sustained an upper-body injury. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that the veteran netminder is undergoing an evaluation today and the team does not yet have a timeline for his return.

Fleury, who will turn 38 in less than two weeks, has started 12 of Minnesota’s 16 games this season and has a .906 save percentage. Filip Gustavsson, the team’s backup, actually has some better numbers but has lost four of the five games he has appeared in.

The likely candidate to take over the starting role is Gustavsson, but there is at least some intrigue over who will come up to join him. The team has Zane McIntyre as a veteran minor league option, but he hasn’t appeared in the NHL since the 2016-17 season.

There is also Jesper Wallstedt, the 20th overall pick in 2021 and a top goaltending prospect. Wallstedt only turned 20 years old a few days ago and has four games of experience in North America, but did start on a regular basis in the SHL the last two seasons. In 22 appearances for Lulea HF last year, he posted a .917 save percentage with a goals-against average of just 1.98. The young netminder also won Best Goaltender at the World Juniors, and took Lulea to the SHL Finals.

While it may not be his time yet, Wallstedt is the team’s future in net and there will be cries for his recall if the team loses Fleury for a substantial amount of time, or Gustavsson struggles in his place.

Minor Transactions: McIntyre, Huntington, Dronov

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While the Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins were handing out long-term extensions to Valeri Nichushkin and Rickard Rakell respectively, and as the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired their next starting goalie in Matt Murray, a few bits of business were still getting done around the league, with a pair of minor leaguers getting contract extensions, and the Coyotes extending an invite to training camp.

The first of these is the Minnesota Wild extending goaltender Zane McIntyre with a one-year, two-way contract extension to stay in the organization according to CapFriendly. The contract is worth $750K at the NHL level and $300K at the minor league level, but does guarantee the goaltender a minimum of $325K. McIntyre appeared in eight games with the Boston Bruins back in 2016-17, but has otherwise made a solid career in the AHL, most recently splitting the 2021-22 season between the Tucson Roadrunners and the Iowa Wild.

  • Shortly thereafter, the Nashville Predators extended forward Jimmy Huntington on a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K at the NHL level and $80K in the minors, leaving him an RFA at the conclusion of the deal, per CapFriendly. Huntington spent five years in the QMJHL, finishing his career with an incredible 92 point season with the Rimouski Oceanic in 2018-19 before turning pro, spending parts of the previous three seasons between the ECHL and AHL. The undrafted forward spent 2021-22 with the Syracuse Crunch and Milwaukee Admirals, putting up 13 goals and 22 assists in 61 games combined.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have made a move to continue looking at depth options, extending a professional tryout to defenseman Grigori Dronov, according to CapFriendly. An undrafted free agent, Dronov has spent his professional career as a member of Magnitogorsk Metallurg in the KHL, featuring as a steady defenseman, though not much of a point producer. Dronov also appeared as a member of team Russia at the 2017 World Junior Championships, where he had one point in seven games.

Victor Rask, Zane McIntyre Clear Waivers

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Jan 5: Both players have cleared waivers, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic. Rask is expected to be assigned to the taxi squad, where the Wild will receive $1.125MM in cap relief. McIntyre will be assigned to the Iowa Wild.

Jan 4: Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Minnesota Wild placed forward Victor Rask and goalie Zane McIntyre on waivers today.

While McIntyre wasn’t in the Wild organization prior to today, the waiver placement means that he signed an NHL contract with the Wild today. He was previously with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners on an AHL contract, appearing in three games and posting a .904 save percentage to go with a 2-1-0 record.

McIntyre has spent time on NHL rosters over the past few years but hasn’t gotten into a game since he played eight with the Boston Bruins in 2016-17. Those are the only eight NHL games he has under his belt, but he’s been a capable enough AHL man over the years and that’s the role he’ll play in Minnesota.

Rask’s waiver placement is partially salary-motivated, as the 28-year-old forward is in the last year of a contract that carries a $4MM cap hit. If he clears waivers, the Wild can save roughly $1MM on that hit while he’s in the minors.

He has four goals and six assists in 21 games this season, occasionally serving as a healthy scratch.

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