- With Jesper Wallstedt returning to AHL Iowa earlier today, the Wild have reassigned goalie prospect Hunter Jones to ECHL Iowa, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 23-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level deal but has struggled considerably in a short sample size this season, posting a 4.98 GAA with a .845 SV% in four games with the Heartlanders.
Wild Rumors
Wild Send Nic Petan, Daemon Hunt, Jesper Wallstedt To AHL
The Minnesota Wild have announced a trio of roster moves, sending Nic Petan, Daemon Hunt, and Jesper Wallstedt to the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Wallstedt served as an emergency backup for the team during their trip to Sweden and wasn’t an official call-up, while Petan and Hunt were recalled prior to the trip. Dakota Mermis has also cleared waivers but remains assigned to the NHL club.
Petan was the only one of the group to slot into the lineup during his recall, appearing in the team’s Saturday loss against the Ottawa Senators. He failed to record a point, penalty, or change in his +/- in the matchup while playing just over eight-and-a-half minutes. He did record two shots and one faceoff win in the game, though.
While Hunt didn’t make an appearance on this recall, he has slotted into five NHL games earlier this season. The 21-year-old defenseman has gone without a point through those contests, a stat line that he’s matched in the AHL, going without a score in five games there as well. It’s Hunt’s second full season of professional hockey after he played in 59 AHL games last season, recording 11 points and 14 penalty minutes.
The duo return to Iowa alongside the AHL club’s starting goalie in Wallstedt. The top goalie prospect has played in eight AHL games so far this season, earning a .932 save percentage and a 6-2-0 record. Now 21 years old, Wallstedt was drafted in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft and has yet to play in his first NHL game.
Dakota Mermis Clears Waivers
Saturday: No team put in a claim for Mermis, Friedman reports.
Friday: The Wild have waived defenseman Dakota Mermis for the purpose of assignment to the AHL’s Iowa Wild, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Friday.
Mermis, 29, has been with the Wild since signing as a free agent in the 2020 offseason. His first season with the club was spent almost entirely on the infamous 2020-21 taxi squad, playing just three games all season, all in the NHL. Since then, he’s logged heavy minutes for the AHL’s Iowa Wild, serving as an alternate captain since his debut with the club in 2021-22. He was not on Minnesota’s opening night roster this season but was recalled just a few days into the campaign with multiple injuries affecting the Wild’s defense core.
20 of Mermis’ 40 NHL appearances have come in a Wild jersey over the past four seasons, including a career-high 13 this season. He’s notched two goals, three assists, five points, and an even plus-minus rating in 15:30 of average ice time with Minnesota, with all of his points coming in 2023-24. Most commonly paired with Jacob Middleton and Jonathon Merrill, he has a Corsi share of 47.8% at even strength, 4.7% worse than the Wild’s Corsi share when Mermis is not on the ice.
To put it succinctly, Mermis has done about as well as you can expect for a minor-league veteran plugged into a defense that’s dealt with structural issues this season. He’d managed to stay in the lineup over the past few games after the return of captain Jared Spurgeon to the lineup, but with veteran Zach Bogosian now in the fold after a trade for the Lightning, Mermis was losing his grip on a roster spot and saw his ice time slip.
Since he’s played more than ten games and his recall lasted more than 30 days, he again requires waivers to return to Iowa. As a pending unrestricted free agent on a two-way deal, there’s a decent chance the Wild lose Mermis on the wire if a team deems they need some short-term blueline depth on the cheap.
Wild Place Frédérick Gaudreau On LTIR, Recall Jesper Wallstedt
The Minnesota Wild moved forward Frédérick Gaudreau to long-term injured reserve on Monday, according to a team statement. Additionally, the team recalled top goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt to accompany the team as their third goalie for upcoming games in Sweden for the NHL Global Series.
Teams are permitted to carry a third goalie for international games, meaning Wallstedt will not count against the salary cap nor the 23-man roster limit but is eligible to enter a game if both Marc-André Fleury and Filip Gustavsson become injured while the team is overseas. The 2021 20th-overall pick is off to a breakneck start with the AHL’s Iowa Wild, recording a 2.01 GAA, .932 SV%, two shutouts, and a 6-2-0 record through eight games.
Meanwhile, Gaudreau has been moved to LTIR to increase the Wild’s salary pool. The 30-year-old winger/center has missed the last nine games with an upper-body injury and has not played since October 14 against the Edmonton Oilers.
Gaudreau has missed the 28-day requirement for LTIR but not the ten-game requirement, meaning Gaudreau cannot be activated until after the first of Minnesota’s two games in Sweden against the Ottawa Senators. Given he will not travel with the team to Sweden, the earliest Gaudreau can conceivably return to the Wild lineup is November 24 against the Colorado Avalanche.
Before sustaining the injury, Gaudreau was off to a slow start, failing to record a point in six games and posting a -2 rating. It’s not the beginning he (or the Wild) envisioned after he inked a five-year, $10.5MM extension with trade protection to remain in the State of Hockey last April.
If Wallstedt is forced into action for the Wild while in his home country, it will be the 20-year-old’s NHL debut.
Afternoon Notes: Kaprizov, Kelemen, Timmins
Michael Russo of The Athletic tweeted this morning that Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov was absent from practice and was replaced in the line rushes by Nic Petan. The Wild are calling it a maintenance day for the 26-year-old as he is banged up at the moment. Kaprizov had an assist in the Wild’s 8-3 drubbing at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Saturday night but played just 16:49, which is a dramatic decrease from the 21:21 in ice time he has been averaging this season.
Kaprizov does have five goals and 10 assists in 15 games this season, but his play has seemed off despite the offensive success. He is -11, and while that number can be misleading, his turnover numbers are not. Kaprizov has turned the puck over in almost every game this season, far outpacing his previous career numbers. He also appears to be struggling when he is deployed against other team’s top star players.
In other afternoon notes:
- The Arizona Coyotes have announced today that they’ve placed forward Jack McBain on injured reserve and in a corresponding move they’ve recalled forward Milos Kelemen from their AHL affiliate the Tucson Roadrunners. The 24-year-old is looking to get into the Coyotes lineup for the first time this season after dressing in 14 games last year. The native of Svolen, Slovakia registered a single goal in the NHL last season but was much more productive in his first AHL season posting 14 goals and 16 assists in 59 games with the Roadrunners. This year, Kelemen is posting offense at about the same pace with two goals and four assists through his first 11 games. Kelemen struggled under poor possession numbers and defensive zone starts in his first run with the Coyotes and will be looking to show he belongs in the NHL if he gets back into the Coyotes lineup.
- TSN’s Mark Masters is reporting that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins practiced this morning in a normal jersey for the first time since September. The 25-year-old has yet to dress for the Maple Leafs this season after being sidelined with a lower-body injury during what was an impressive preseason as he collected six points in three preseason games and made a case for himself to be in Toronto’s top six. Last season the St. Catherines, Ontario native posted two goals and 12 assists in 27 NHL games.
Wild Activate Jared Spurgeon, Send Daemon Hunt To AHL
4:10 PM: Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason announced that Spurgeon will, indeed, play in the team’s Friday night outing.
4:00 PM: The Minnesota Wild have activated team captain Jared Spurgeon from long-term injured reserve and sent Daemon Hunt to the minor leagues. Spurgeon has been on injured reserve for the entirety of the early season, battling an upper-body injury.
Getting Spurgeon back is a tremendous boost to a Wild lineup that’s struggled to get on the right side of the win column. The team currently has a 5-6-2 record through 13 games, ranking them sixth in the Central Division. But now they get back a pillar of their lineup in Spurgeon, who has averaged over 21 minutes of ice time for the club in every season since 2011-12. He scored 11 goals and 34 points last season, taking a slight step down from the 40 points he managed in the 2021-22 campaign.
Daemon Hunt appeared in his first five NHL games while helping to fill in for Spurgeon. He wasn’t able to net his first NHL box stat though, going without a point, penalty, or change in his +/-. He’ll return to the AHL’s Iowa Wild, where he’s already played four games this season – failing to record a point in those games as well, although he did record seven penalty minutes and a -3.
With the news of his Friday return, Spurgeon will have missed 12 games to start the season. The 33-year-old defenseman will have the potential to play in, at most, 69 games this season. The team captain is chasing his 400th NHL point, currently sitting 21 points back from the milestone
Jared Spurgeon To Miss Next Two Games
The Minnesota Wild will remain without captain Jared Spurgeon in the lineup for at least the next two games, GM Bill Guerin told the media today (via Joe Smith of The Athletic). At the earliest, Spurgeon could make his season debut on Sunday against the Dallas Stars, which Guerin dubbed a “possibility.”
- San Jose Sharks defenseman Jacob MacDonald was placed on injured reserve earlier today in a corresponding transaction to the acquisition of Calen Addison from the Minnesota Wild, and head coach David Quinn confirmed today that he’ll miss the minimum one week required to be on IR but not necessarily much more. Injuries have limited MacDonald to just two appearances this season, but he did log a two-point effort in the team’s 10-2 blowout at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins recently. In fact, MacDonald has only suited up in the Sharks’ back-to-back 10-goal concessions, recording a -5 rating and averaging just north of 12 minutes per game.
Wild Acquire Zach Bogosian From Lightning
The Minnesota Wild have acquired defenseman Zach Bogosian from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, per a team release.
This is the team’s second trade involving a defenseman today after dealing the much younger Calen Addison to the San Jose Sharks for a 2026 fifth-round pick and depth forward Adam Raška. Overall, the Wild have spent an additional $25K against the cap, acquired a slightly higher-value draft pick, and taken on a low-ceiling prospect for swapping Addison for Bogosian on the NHL roster.
Bogosian, 33, is in the final season of a three-year deal signed with the Lightning in 2021 and costs $850K against the cap, although he’s set to earn $1.05MM in actual salary this season. The veteran shutdown defender and 2008 third-overall pick has a modified no-trade clause affording him a 21-team no-trade list, per CapFriendly, meaning the Wild were among Bogosian’s top ten desired destinations for a trade.
This is a nice change of scenery for Bogosian, who won the Stanley Cup with Tampa in 2020. He unexpectedly hit the waiver wire during preseason (and cleared) to offer the Lightning some salary cap flexibility, although he was recalled back to the NHL after the team’s opening night game against the Nashville Predators. Bogosian has played in four out of 13 games for the Lightning this season, averaging a career-low 11:57 per game and failing to get on the scoresheet.
The deal marks somewhat of a homecoming, as Bogosian lives in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area during the offseason, and his older brother, Aaron, works in the Wild’s front office, per Michael Russo of The Athletic. It’s undeniably a downgrade for the Wild, though, who take on a veteran with dwindling advanced metrics and subpar traditional defensive metrics over the past two seasons while losing out on a promising puck-moving blueliner.
On Tampa’s end, the deal should mean more opportunity for 25-year-old Nicklaus Perbix. He’s been a healthy scratch twice this season and has gotten off to a disappointing start, recording three assists in 11 games while posting some of the worst even-strength possession numbers on the team with a Corsi share of just 41.1%. Tampa will now rely on him to recapture his rookie season form that saw him post 20 points in 69 games while playing solid defensive hockey last season.
The Lightning also have Haydn Fleury and Philippe Myers stashed in the minors on the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch available for recall. Between them, they have nearly 400 games of NHL experience.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report Bogosian was coming to the Wild, while Michael Russo of The Athletic was the first to report the return.
Wild Trade Calen Addison To Sharks
Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that the Minnesota Wild have traded defenseman Calen Addison to the San Jose Sharks for a fifth-round pick. The 23-year-old has five assists in 12 games so far this season and will join a rebuilding Sharks team that just won its first game of the season last night. According to Russo, the draft pick appears to be a 2026 selection and the Wild will also receive minor-league right winger Adam Raska in the deal. Raska is currently playing in the AHL for the San Jose Barracuda and has zero points in seven games this season.
On the surface, the move is a peculiar one for the Wild, Addison was a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2018 and was a central part of the trade package the Penguins sent to the Wild in exchange for Jason Zucker. Last season, Addison posted three goals and 26 assists in 62 games in what was his first full season in the NHL. Those numbers, while impressive, do require some context. 18 of Addison’s 26 assists came on the powerplay, and while his offensive instincts are obvious, his defensive shortcomings leave a lot to be desired. Last season, Addison was a -17, and while that statistic can be misleading, a deep dive into his defensive analytics will tell you a very similar story. Things got so bad defensively last season that Addison went through a stretch where he was a healthy scratch in 25 out of the 35 games (including regular season and playoffs). During this stretch, the Wild traded for John Klingberg who took over powerplay responsibilities from Addison and his spot in the lineup. This led to Addison spending most of the summer without a contract extension before ultimately signing a one-year $825K deal on September 19. Now with the trade, Addison will close a very uneven run in Minnesota.
From the Sharks’ perspective, the move makes total sense, the club is rebuilding and gets to acquire a right-shot offensively-minded defenseman for almost nothing. If Addison is unable to turn his defensive game around San Jose can simply non-tender him in the offseason and walk away from Addison without any long-term ramifications. Sharks general manager Mike Grier has decided that a fifth-round pick and an AHLer is worth rolling the dice on a player who could develop into a long-term fixture on the Sharks powerplay when they emerge from their current rebuild.
In addition to the trade, the Sharks have also recalled forward Oskar Lindblom from the AHL and defenseman Jacob MacDonald has been moved to the injured reserve.
Spurgeon Close To Return
Having already satisfied his long-term injured reserve requirements, Minnesota Wild captain, Jared Spurgeon, was eligible to return to the team’s game against the New York Rangers, but was still not fully available. Speaking with head coach Dean Evason today, Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News reports that Spurgeon may return to the lineup on the team’s current road trip.
Because there has been no official word up to this point, it is unlikely that Spurgeon will be back in the lineup tomorrow as the Wild take on the New York Islanders, but with games against the Buffalo Sabres and Rangers at the end of the weeks, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to see Spurgeon back at that point.