Jan. 8: Ferguson cleared waivers on Wednesday and will be assigned to Iowa, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Jan. 7: The Wild signed goaltender Dylan Ferguson to a two-way contract for the remainder of the 2024-25 season on Tuesday, according to a team release. Minnesota subsequently placed him on waivers for assignment to AHL Iowa.
Ferguson, 26, signed a one-year deal with Iowa in September after a failed PTO with the Canucks. He’ll earn a prorated salary of $130K while in the minors on his new two-way deal, the team said, presumably a raise over what he was making on his minor-league-only contract.
Signing Ferguson makes him eligible for a recall to the NHL roster for the remainder of the season, assuming he clears waivers. He’ll be able to stick on the active roster if necessary for up to 30 days or play 10 games before he needs waivers again to return to Iowa.
The British Columbia native has made seven appearances for Iowa this season while backing up Wild prospects Jesper Wallstedt and Samuel Hlavaj, posting the best numbers out of the trio with a .900 SV% and a 3-4-0 record. He also had a shutout in his lone ECHL appearance for the Iowa Heartlanders earlier this season.
Ferguson has three NHL games under his belt, the first most memorably coming with the Golden Knights in relief during their inaugural season. Ferguson, 19 at the time and freshly acquired from the Stars in an offseason trade, was fifth on Vegas’ goaltending depth chart and on assignment to his major junior team in Kamloops but needed to enter a game against the Oilers in November with Marc-André Fleury, Malcolm Subban, Oscar Dansk and Maxime Lagace all injured.
He didn’t see NHL ice again until the 2022-23 campaign, starting two games for the Senators at the tail end of the season and allowing five goals on 83 shots. All told, Ferguson has a strong .929 SV% and 2.81 GAA in his very limited NHL track record, also posting a formidable .911 mark in 36 career AHL games in parts of five seasons.
After struggling with injuries and failing to land much playing time wherever he signed, the journeyman Ferguson headed to Belarus in 2023-24 and signed a one-year deal with Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. He posted a .904 SV% in 23 games against some top-flight overseas competition, logging a 2.51 GAA and a 9-9-0 record.
His return to North America last summer has now gone well enough to land him an NHL deal. While his age would normally stipulate Ferguson becoming a restricted free agent upon expiry of this contract, he’ll be a Group VI unrestricted free agent instead because he’s played in fewer than 28 NHL games while accumulating at least three professional seasons.
Since the Wild signed and waived Ferguson within the same day, he won’t count against their active roster while on waivers.