The Minnesota Wild have announced a few important transactions, starting with the activation of Nick Bjugstad from injured reserve. To make room, the team has placed Matt Dumba on IR and waived Victor Rask.
Bjugstad, 29, has played in just 28 games so far this season and was placed on injured reserve earlier this month. The big forward is a long way from the player that scored 24 goals and 43 points in 2014-15 but still represents some valuable depth for the Wild to insert into the lineup. He has four goals and five points this season in those 28 games while averaging just over ten minutes a night.
For a team like Minnesota, who have their sights set on the Stanley Cup, improving around the fringes of the roster can be an important step. Bjugstad isn’t a huge improvement over Rask but he does carry less than a quarter of the cap hit. In fact, his $900K is more than reasonable for a fourth-line player that adds some size and versatility–able to line up at center or the wing.
Dumba, meanwhile, is expected to miss a few weeks with a lower-body injury. He has played just one game since the start of the month and is now on injured reserve, likely retroactive to his appearance on February 12. That mean’s he’s eligible to return in the next few days, though it’s not yet clear when he actually will be ready to get back into the lineup.