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Jacob Middleton

Wild Notes: Leipold, Boldy, Middleton, Chisholm

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The owner of the Minnesota Wild, Craig Leipold, took part in a lengthy interview with Joe Smith and Michael Russo of The Athletic carrying a wide array of topics. Despite not making the playoffs last year and not advancing past the second round since 2003 Leipold assures Wild fans the organization is firmly committed to bringing a Stanley Cup to the State of Hockey.

Leipold shared that Minnesota was never interested in a full-scale rebuild and the organization is now in year two of a five-year plan to win a Stanley Cup. The major factors in this rebuild are extending star player Kirill Kaprizov next summer and bringing in some marquee free agents when they have more financial flexibility.

The longtime Wild owner touched on the importance of the inevitable negotiations with Kaprizov saying, “Am I convinced that we can (persuade him to stay)? No. Am I convinced that we will have a better offer than anybody else can do in the league? The answer is yes. I told you that this five-year plan is not a straight line. He’s the most important piece of our five-year plan. I think I can say that“.

Minnesota is still financially reeling from the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter from a few years ago with $14.74MM owed to the players this season. That number will drop to only $1.66MM next summer giving the Wild a ton of room to work with as the cap continues to rise.

Other Wild notes:

  • The injuries that limited forward Matt Boldy and defenseman Jacob Middleton during training camp will not extend into the regular season. Jessi Pierce of the NHL reports that both players are expected to be in the Wild lineup tomorrow for their regular season opener. Boldy was suffering from a lower-body injury and was originally designated as week-to-week on September 23rd before being downgraded to day-to-day on October 1st.
  • One player confirmed to not be in the lineup tomorrow night is defenseman Declan Chisholm who is battling an illness (X Link). There was no guarantee Chisholm would have been in the lineup if healthy as the team may have opted for Jonathon Merrill and Zach Bogosian on the bottom pairing regardless. Minnesota did use Chisholm more than he ever has in his career last season averaging 16:52 of ice time in 29 contests after being claimed on waivers.

Central Notes: Boldy, Middleton, Marino, Bjugstad, Kaiser, Barlow

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The Wild have upgraded winger Matt Boldy’s status from week-to-week to day-to-day, head coach John Hynes said Tuesday (via NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce). He hasn’t been ruled out of Friday’s preseason game against the Blackhawks, a strong sign he’ll be available when Minnesota opens its regular season against the Blue Jackets on Oct. 10.

Boldy was initially termed week-to-week on Sep. 23 with a lower-body ailment, but the team wasn’t concerned he’d miss any regular-season action. That appears to be the case. He’s been skating since Saturday.

His presence is crucial for the Wild. The 23-year-old set career highs last season with 40 assists and 69 points in 75 games, finishing second on the Wild’s 21st-ranked offense in scoring. With most of their bottom six either declining or overtaxed in offensive roles, he’s an irreplaceable source of secondary scoring behind Kirill Kaprizov, at least until Minnesota’s next wave of prospects hits their stride.

It’s not all good injury news for the Wild today, though. Defenseman Jacob Middleton is now day-to-day with bruising, Hynes added, but isn’t expected to miss their season opener, which is still nine days away.

There’s more from the Central Division:

  • The Utah Hockey Club may be without a top-four stalwart on defense for its first-ever game. John Marino’s availability for the season opener is now in doubt after missing all of training camp to date with an upper-body injury, per ALL Utah Hockey’s Craig Morgan. The team will know more about his timeline for a return next week, Morgan added, but for now, he hasn’t been ruled out of any action past then and is still day-to-day. They’re also not expecting center Nick Bjugstad back until Nov. 1, per Morgan. He’s out with an upper-body injury, but his absence isn’t new. He was already ruled doubtful for the start of the season last week.
  • Defenseman Wyatt Kaiser has been mysteriously absent from Blackhawks camp thus far, but that’ll end soon. The Blackhawks told the Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope that an undisclosed concern popped up during his pre-camp physical that required “some invasive testing.” He’s passed all of them, though, and will begin ramping up to game speed. The 22-year-old is a strong candidate to land on the opening night roster after posting seven assists and an even rating in 32 games with Chicago last year.
  • Jets prospect Colby Barlow has officially requested a trade in the OHL from the Owen Sound Attack, Postmedia’s Greg Cowan reports. Winnipeg returned Barlow, the No. 18 overall pick in 2023, to Owen Sound on Sunday. The 19-year-old left winger had 40 goals in 50 games last year but recorded only 18 assists for 58 points, placing him fourth on the team in scoring overall. He won’t be reporting to Owen Sound’s camp at all, Cowan adds, so expect him to be on the move before the start of the OHL regular season.

Wild Extend Jacob Middleton

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7/1: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Wild have signed Middleton to a four-year, $17.4MM extension at a $4.35MM AAV.

6/27: The Wild are likely to announce an extension for defenseman Jacob Middleton soon after he becomes eligible to sign one on Monday, The Athletic’s Michael Russo wrote earlier this week. It’s likely to come in at four years between $16MM and $18MM total, working out to a cap hit between $4MM and $4.5MM.

Middleton, 28, faced increased responsibility in 2023-24, his second full season in Minnesota. The shutdown blue-liner averaged a career-high 19:49 per game, with captain Jared Spurgeon missing most of the season due to multiple injuries and top matchup defender Jonas Brodin missing significant time as well.

With increased opportunity came increased production for Middleton, who posted a career-high 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 80 games. His -15 rating was a career-low, but he’s one of more than a few Wild skaters whose ratings were negatively impacted by poor seasons from goaltenders Marc-André Fleury and Filip Gustavsson.

He’s never had spectacular possession numbers on his own, but he did prove to be a good partner for Spurgeon in 2022-23 when the two were healthy at the same time. Skating in 76 games, they controlled 53.5% of expected goals when deployed together, per MoneyPuck. The same couldn’t be said for him and rookie Brock Faber this year, who controlled only 48% of expected goals and was Minnesota’s most commonly deployed pairing at over 800 minutes together.

Middleton has certainly proven he can hold his own as a complementary top-four piece, but with him set to turn 29 midway through next season, there’s little room left for further development. Considering a four-year, $4-$4.5MM AAV deal is likely similar to what the much more established Chris Tanev will land this summer, it seems a little steep. Evolving Hockey’s projections concur that it’s a tad above market value, pegging a four-year extension for Middleton in the $3.8MM AAV range.

Wild general manager Bill Guerin also has a recent history of handing out premature extensions that are not aging well. He inked depth center Frédérick Gaudreau to a five-year, $10.5MM extension with trade protection after last season ended, and he proceeded to have his worst year in the State of Hockey with just 15 points and a -23 rating in 67 games this year. A four-year, $16MM deal set to kick in next season for Marcus Foligno also looks a tad steep after the 32-year-old struggled with injuries last season and had only 10 goals and 22 points in 55 games.

That said, the Wild will have some cap flexibility opening up when Middleton’s extension would go into effect for the 2025-26 season. The combined penalties from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts will drop from $14.744MM to just $1.667MM, where they’ll remain annually through 2028-29. Middleton, whom Minnesota acquired from the Sharks at the 2022 trade deadline, is entering the final season of a three-year, $7.35MM deal with a $2.45MM cap hit.

Jared Spurgeon Won’t Play Tonight, Out Day-To-Day

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that defenseman Jared Spurgeon will miss tonight’s game against the Calgary Flames and will be out of the lineup day-to-day as he is banged up and dealing with a lower-body injury. The Wild captain was activated off the long-term injured reserve just over a month ago after he was originally injured in the pre-season. The 34-year-old has played in just 13 games this year and hasn’t been able to get going offensively as he has just four assists.

The Edmonton, Alberta native is no stranger to being out of the lineup having played just one full 82-game season since breaking into the league back in 2010. Spurgeon has always been undersized at just 5’9” and 166lbs, but despite being undersized and not overly flashy offensively, Spurgeon has remained an incredibly effective two-way defenseman. He continues to be matched up against the top players on opposing teams, and a lot of the Wild’s struggles this season can be attributed to how many games they’ve had to play without Spurgeon.

The Wild are already without the services of Jonas Brodin and could be in tough to replace two of their top defensemen. With Spurgeon, Brodin, and Zach Bogosian out, Minnesota will be looking for someone to step in and eat some of the minutes that have been vacated. That could mean a big bump in ice time for both Brock Faber and Jacob Middleton.

Minnesota sits seventh in the Central Division with a record of 10-12-4 and has been one of the more active teams in recent weeks as they’ve made a handful of trades and initiated a coaching change as well. Currently, the Wild sit four points of the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with a pair of games in hand.

Snapshots: Hofer, Middleton, Senators, Korpisalo

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After revealing their initial roster yesterday for the upcoming World Championship, Hockey Canada announced (Twitter link) that Blues goaltender Joel Hofer and Wild defenseman Jacob Middleton have been added to the roster.  Hofer spent most of the season with AHL Springfield but didn’t look out of place in six games with St. Louis where he posted a .905 SV%.  He’s expected to be the backup for the Blues next season and will compete for playing time in this event with Buffalo’s Devon Levi and Montreal’s Samuel Montembeault.

As for Middleton, the 27-year-old played in 79 games for the Wild this season, picking up 15 points and 155 blocks while logging over 19 minutes a night, all career bests.  He also picked up a pair of assists and 24 blocked shots in Minnesota’s opening-round exit to Dallas.  It will be his first time representing Canada internationally.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Another celebrity has joined in on the bidding for the Senators as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that The Weeknd has joined the Kimel bid, one of the seven groups believed to still be in the race for the team. This comes on the heels of Snoop Dogg partnering up with Neko Sparks’ bid in recent days while Ryan Reynolds and the Remington Group are known to be putting together a competitive bid.  The rough deadline for final offers is the middle of May.
  • When he met with the media earlier this week including Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider, Kings goaltender Joonas Korpisalo indicated that there hasn’t been much in the way of discussions on a possible contract extension. The 29-year-old was quite impressive for Los Angeles down the stretch, posting a 2.13 GAA with a .921 SV% in 11 games, helping him earn the starting role for the playoffs.  Korpisalo is finishing a one-year, $1.3MM deal that was signed on the heels of an injury-riddled season but now, he’ll enter the open market as one of the top netminders available which could more than triple that rate on his next contract.

West Notes: Wild, McLeod, Afanaseyev, Kesselring

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The Wild could get several key veterans back in their lineup shortly.  Randy Johnson of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune relays that while defensemen Jonas Brodin and Jacob Middleton plus wingers Brandon Duhaime and Marcus Foligno weren’t in the lineup today, they could all be back for Sunday’s contest against Washington.  Brodin has been out the longest, missing the last four weeks with a lower-body injury which has been a big blow to their back end.  Middleton is dealing with an illness sustained earlier this week.  Meanwhile, Duhaime has missed more than two weeks with a head injury while Foligno has been out for a week with a lower-body issue of his own.  Minnesota is in the midst of a very close three-way battle for positioning in the Central and getting multiple veterans back at once could certainly give their lineup a nice boost.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Postmedia’s Jim Matheson suggests that center Ryan McLeod is dealing with a shoulder injury. He was injured on Tuesday against Ottawa and didn’t suit up versus Dallas on Thursday.  There’s no word on how long the 23-year-old will be out.  McLeod’s in the middle of a decent sophomore season, notching 11 goals and 11 assists in 55 games despite spending a lot of that time in Edmonton’s bottom six.
  • After papering him down, the Predators announced that they’ve recalled winger Egor Afanasyev to AHL Milwaukee. The 22-year-old made his NHL debut last weekend after being brought up and has gotten into three games with Nashville, logging 9:32 per night while being held off the scoresheet.  Afanasyev also has 13 goals and 13 assists in 55 games with the Admirals in the minors this season.
  • A day after being sent down, the Coyotes announced (Twitter link) that they have once again recalled defenseman Michael Kesselring from AHL Tucson on an emergency basis. The 23-year-old has played in three games with Arizona since being acquired just before the deadline, logging 18:35 per contest.  The 23-year-old has also suited up three times for the Roadrunners since the swap, picking up a goal and an assist.

Central Notes: Jets, Middleton, Langlois

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The Jets have been banged up this season and there isn’t much short-term help on the horizon.  Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe relays (Twitter link) that center Saku Maenalanen is the closest to returning and is about a week away.  The 28-year-old has been a regular in the bottom six for Winnipeg this season, notching four goals and two assists in 25 games but has missed the last three weeks with an upper-body injury.

Next up on the return list is expected to be Cole Perfetti.  The youngster is expected to miss a week to ten days with an upper-body issue.  Perfetti has been one of Winnipeg’s more productive players this season as he’s tied for sixth in team scoring with 20 points in 33 games.  Unfortunately for them, those are the only players that are somewhat close to returning as their other injuries (a list that includes Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler, and Nate Schmidt, among others) are at least multiple weeks away from returning.

More from around the Central Division:

  • Wild defenseman Jacob Middleton did not accompany the team on their trip to Winnipeg due to a non-COVID illness, the team announced (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is in his first full season with Minnesota and has shored up their third pairing nicely.  Middleton has six points, 57 blocks, and 48 hits in 33 games this season.  His absence is why the team recalled Andrej Sustr from AHL Iowa earlier today.
  • Coyotes prospect Jeremy Langlois is on the move in the QMJHL as Cape Breton announced (Twitter link) that they’ve moved the defenseman to Quebec for a pair of draft picks. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick this past summer (94th overall) after an impressive season offensively that saw him collect 47 points in 60 games.  His numbers are down slightly this year although he’s still on pace for 40 points.  Langlois has not yet signed his entry-level contract but is eligible to turn pro next season.

Minnesota Wild Extend Jacob Middleton

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The Minnesota Wild and defenseman Jacob Middleton have come to terms on a three-year contract extension, per the team. The contract carries a cap hit of $2.45MM, a hefty raise for the now-signed restricted free agent.

Middleton played in his first full NHL season this past year at 26 years old. A seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, the 6′ 3″, 219-lb defenseman forced his way into the San Jose Sharks lineup this past season with a needed brand of physicality and impressive defensive results. It allowed the Sharks to net some solid value in return when they dealt him the Wild at this year’s Trade Deadline. Down the stretch, Middleton had five points in 21 regular-season games, averaging 17:55 per game. He added an assist in six playoff games.

Overall, Middleton’s netted four goals, 13 assists, and 17 points in 80 NHL games so far, with 14 of those points and 66 of those games coming this season.

Minnesota acquired him with the main intent of being tougher to play against, and the acquisition achieved that goal. His defensive play is a really nice byproduct too, and while his ceiling likely isn’t much higher than his current production, that $2.4MM cap hit is a decent value if his defensive game continues at its current level.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was first to report.

Trade Rumors: Bertuzzi, Monahan, Middleton

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It’s T-minus six days until the 2022 Trade Deadline, and some names are already off the board with more likely to come prior to Deadline Day. One of those names who’s making a late entry to the fray is Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi, according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. He reports that Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman is letting other teams know he’s “open for business,” with the sense around the league being Yzerman will entertain offers for any Red Wing not named Moritz Seider or Lucas Raymond. Bertuzzi is a desirable trade asset – he’s clicking at nearly a point-per-game clip this season and is locked into a $4.5MM cap hit this year and next. However, he and Josh Archibald retain their status as the only unvaccinated players in the NHL, and he’s already missed nine games this season due to border restrictions. It remains to be seen whether teams will be willing to acquire him with the risk that he may not be available for half of a playoff series or more.

Some more trade notes as things heat up:

  • As the Calgary Flames attempt to load up even further after acquiring Tyler Toffoli earlier this year, Seravalli speculates that Sean Monahan is a trade candidate to get shipped out of town prior to the deadline. Monahan’s continuously slipped down the depth chart this season and carries the lowest +/- rating on the team by far (-15). He has a paltry eight goals in 59 games and now sees time as the team’s fourth-line center, falling behind younger players like Dillon Dube. With Calgary needing to pay up big-time soon for pending free agents Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, freeing Monahan’s $6.375MM off the books would likely be beneficial, with replacement players available within the organization.
  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports the Toronto Maple Leafs are showing interest in San Jose Sharks defenseman Jacob Middleton for some added organizational depth. Middleton’s seen a career-high 41 games played in the NHL this year, scoring nine points, averaging 19:01 per game, and holding his own defensively. With Jake Muzzin still out with injury, he’d provide competition for players like Justin Holl, Travis Dermott, and Timothy Liljegren, and he would give Toronto a ninth NHL-caliber defenseman for a playoff run.

 

Jacob Middleton Drawing Trade Interest

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When discussing the San Jose Sharks and the trade deadline, usually the focus is put on pending unrestricted free agent Tomas Hertl. While the Sharks continue to try and sign Hertl to a long-term deal instead of making him available for trade, it’s easy to forget that there are several other names on the roster that could draw interest as March 21 approaches.

One of those is Jacob Middleton, as Pierre LeBrun explained in the latest edition of Insider Trading for TSN:

An under-the-radar name for the San Jose Sharks that is garnering interest: defenseman Jake Middleton, who has partnered with both Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns at times this year. He’s part of that penalty killing crew that ranks second in the NHL, he’s an RFA at the end of the year, he’s making only $725K. He’s a bit of an oldschool, physical brand that teams heading to the playoffs like to stash on their roster. Among the teams that have kicked tires I’m told, are Tampa Bay, Boston, and St. Louis.

Middleton, 26, is actually making $750K this season of course but carries a cap hit of just $725K. He’s also one of the many players that could become a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, should he fail to play in another 20 games before the end of the year. That certainly could complicate trade talks, as the Sharks have just six games before the trade deadline. Any acquiring team would have to know that he can’t be added as a press box depth piece with the expectation that he’ll be around as an RFA; he needs to play in order to retain that status.

Still, it’s easy to see why some teams would be interested in the 6’3″ defenseman. Not only does his cap hit come in lower than the league minimum salary, meaning he’d fit into the financial situation for basically every team in the league–whoever he was replacing on the roster would make at least as much as him, likely more–but he’s also stepped into a fairly substantial role in San Jose as they dealt with so many injuries on defense. Having never played more than 10 NHL games in a season before this year, he’s suited up 39 times and averages nearly 19 minutes a night. Just this week, he logged more than 25 minutes in an overtime loss against the Anaheim Ducks, blocking seven shots in the process.

With the Sharks falling completely out of the race with a poor last couple of weeks, the team will likely try to sell off any expiring pieces. If Middleton doesn’t figure prominently into their future plans–or, alternatively if they’re worried he won’t reach that games played threshold as Karlsson and others prepare to return–a trade would seem like the prudent move.

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