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Minnesota Wild Recall Joseph Cramarossa

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that forward Joseph Cramarossa has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

The move fills a lone vacant spot on the team’s roster, giving them some additional reinforcements as they prepare for a four-game road trip that begins Sunday in Dallas.

Cramarossa, 30, has played in four games for the Wild so far this year and spent most of the season in Iowa. The winger bounced around a bit after a 2017 waiver claim but seems to have found a home in the Wild organization. This will be Cramarossa’s third straight season as a depth forward in Minnesota/Iowa, and he’s clearly valued for that role by Wild brass.

In 15 AHL games so far this year Cramarossa has seven points to go along with 47 penalty minutes. Overall, he has 68 NHL games on his resume and 13 points. While it’s unlikely that Cramarossa sees any major minutes for the Wild, his recall underscores the team’s desire to play with more physicality and grit.

The Wild added some major muscle when they acquired Ryan Reaves from the New York Rangers, and Cramarossa’s recall helps the Wild in the same areas Reaves was acquired to address.

Hunter Haight Traded In The OHL

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  • Wild prospect Hunter Haight is on the move in the OHL as Barrie announced that they traded him to Saginaw in exchange for five draft picks. The 18-year-old was a second-round pick by Minnesota this past summer after putting up 22 goals and 41 points last season with the Colts.  However, things haven’t gone as well this year as he managed just three goals and six helpers in 20 contests prior to the move.  Minnesota has until June 1, 2024 to sign the center to an NHL contract.

Minnesota Wild Recall Andrej Sustr

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With Jonas Brodin dealing with an injury, the Minnesota Wild have recalled Andrej Sustr from the minor leagues. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Brodin’s absence isn’t expected to be for very long, as the defenseman will travel with the team on their upcoming road trip.

Sustr, 32, was used repeatedly last season as an injury call-up, playing 15 games for the Tampa Bay Lightning and 23 for the Anaheim Ducks. He’s been stuck in the minors for this season, racking up five points in 15 games for the Iowa Wild. In terms of insurance options you could certainly do worse than the 6’7″ defender, who has 361 NHL games to his name and was once a regular with the Lightning.

Still, losing Brodin for any length of time is a hefty blow for Minnesota to deal with. The 29-year-old is one of the league’s best shutdown defenders and plays more than 22 minutes a night for the Wild. His offense hasn’t arrived this year, with just four points in 19 games, but he carries so much defensive responsibility for Minnesota that it’s hard to operate without him.

The group will have to step up tonight against the Edmonton Oilers, a team that Brodin has historically done quite well against as a Connor McDavid mark. The team was playing with seven defensemen when he went down, meaning Sustr doesn’t necessarily have to go into the lineup.

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.

Marco Rossi To Be Re-Assigned To AHL

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The Minnesota Wild are expected to send Marco Rossi to the AHL after sitting out last night’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that the young forward was informed of the decision yesterday.

Rossi, 21, has played in 16 games this season but looks outmatched at times, not quite ready to become a difference-making forward at the NHL level. With zero goals and just one assist, it hasn’t been the rookie campaign he or many expected.

Some time in the AHL should only help Rossi’s development, especially because of the time he has missed in the past. Due to medical concerns, he was held out for nearly the entire 2020-21 season, playing just a single game in Switzerland. Last season, his return was rather triumphant, with 53 points in 63 games for the Iowa Wild, and an NHL debut.

Now, after sitting a number of games in the press box as a healthy scratch, he’ll get a chance to build on that first AHL campaign.

Guerin: Wild Looking For More Scoring, Pondering If Rossi Should Go To Iowa

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Last season, the Wild ranked fifth in the NHL in goals with 310, or 3.78 per game.  While a lot of the roster is back from last year, the goal output hasn’t been as they are currently 25th in that regard with 55 in 19 games, or 2.89 per contest.  Thus far, they’ve been able to hang around the playoff race in the West due to a stingy defense that has also allowed just 55 goals so an offensive improvement from some of their veterans would certainly go a long way.  At the moment, Minnesota has just under $3.7MM in cap space to spend now, per CapFriendly, a number that jumps to $12.4MM on deadline day.  Accordingly, patience from Guerin makes a lot of sense here as by waiting, he’ll be able to afford a more impactful upgrade if he can’t get the improvement from within that he’s seeking.

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.

Minnesota Wild Acquire Ryan Reaves

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The Minnesota Wild have acquired Ryan Reaves from the New York Rangers, sending a 2025 fifth-round pick in return.

Reaves, 35, had been left out of the Rangers lineup for a good chunk of this season, suiting up only 12 times so far. According to Mollie Walker of the New York Post, his agent requested a trade while the team was in Los Angeles.

The move is a positive one for both sides. Reaves will get a better chance at playing time with the Wild, while the Rangers move out his entire $1.75MM cap hit. That gives them some much-needed cap flexibility, especially for a midseason acquisition later on.

There’s not much to explain about Reaves’ game. He is only a fourth-line option at this point in his career and likely shouldn’t be in the lineup every game. He does bring an immense physical presence and has plenty of experience in the Central Division from his time in St. Louis.

For Minnesota, one of the biggest disappointments in the early going, a change was needed. While an acquisition of Reaves isn’t exactly what many were expecting, he certainly will give their bottom six a different look.

Mason Shaw To Stay With Minnesota For The Rest Of The Season

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  • Mason Shaw has impressed since being recalled from the minors last month and has made enough of an impression on the Wild that they’ve told him that he’ll be staying up with them for the rest of the season, relays Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press. The 24-year-old played in three games with Minnesota last year but has already surpassed that with a dozen appearances this season that have seen him pick up two goals and three assists along with 24 hits while averaging nearly 13 minutes a night of ice time.  Shaw is making the league minimum this season and will have arbitration rights next summer.

Sabres Claim Tyson Jost Off Waivers From Wild

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The Sabres have added some extra depth up front as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that they have claimed center Tyson Jost off waivers from Minnesota.

The 24-year-old was acquired by the Wild back at the trade deadline last season in exchange for Nico Sturm.  They were hoping that a change of scenery would help Jost to unlock the potential he showed in the past that made him the 10th overall pick in 2016.  He was a little better down the stretch last season with six points in 21 games which gave them cause for a little bit of optimism heading into this season.

Unfortunately, things haven’t gone well this season.  Jost was limited to just three assists in 12 games while spending a lot of time on the left wing.  He was also a healthy scratch in five games and that’s simply not a good return on a $2MM price tag.  Unable to trade him, the Wild put Jost on waivers yesterday.  His full contract will come off the books which will give GM Bill Guerin considerably more flexibility as he looks to upgrade his roster that currently sits on the outside looking in at the playoff race.

As for Buffalo, it’s a claim that doesn’t carry a lot of risk and there’s a clear path to playing time for Jost.  Riley Sheahan is currently playing center on their fourth line and Jost represents a younger, more talented option at this point of his career.  If the Sabres envision him on the wing, Anders Bjork has already cleared waivers this season and the Sabres took advantage of that as he was sent back to AHL Rochester in a corresponding move.

Notably, Jost’s contract is a little back-loaded so while his cap hit is $2MM, his qualifying offer next summer stands at $2.25MM, his actual salary this season.  He’ll need to show some improvement if he wants a chance at receiving that tender in June; perhaps this change of scenery will be the one to help get him going.

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