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Teemu Pulkkinen

Wild Waive Teemu Pulkkinen; Assigned To Iowa

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Saturday:  Pulkkinen has cleared waivers and been assigned to the Iowa Wild of the AHL.

Friday: Only 17 days after claiming him from the Detroit Red Wings, the Minnesota Wild waived forward Teemu Pulkkinen after just eight games with the team. In those eight games, Pulkkinen had one goal and was a -1. Though many felt Pulkkinen didn’t get a fair shake in Motown, his performance in Minnesota fell short of what the Wild brass certainly thought they were getting in a player expected to score goals.

NBC Sports’ Mike Halford wonders if Pulkkinen could be reacquired by the Red Wings, since he would be able to go back to Grand Rapids, not impacting the NHL roster as he did three weeks ago. Halford quotes Wings coach Jeff Blashill as having “an unreal amount of respect” for him. Perhaps a return to Detroit isn’t far fetched after all.

Should Pulkkinen clear waivers, he will report to the AHL’s Iowa Wild.

Red Wings Notes: Vanek, Howard, Pulkkinen

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The Detroit Red Wings are off to a great 6-2-0 record this season, and part of it has been the exceptional play from Thomas Vanek. The Austrian winger has scored eight points in seven games this season, but missed the Wings last game against the Blues with a lower-body injury.  He’s not at the morning skate again today, according to Ansar Khan of MLive.com and won’t play again tonight.

Vanek signed a one-year, $2.6MM deal with the Red Wings this summer, a huge bargain if he could get back to the ~60 point player he was once a lock to be. The former forty-goal man has been on a steady decline in recent years, and has big question marks defensively.

  • Jimmy Howard will start tonight, his third of the season. After Petr Mrazek took the job last season, Howard has been fighting to prove that he is capable of starting at this level still, in order to entice another team to go after him.  The 32-year old has been heavily rumored to be on the market, but since he comes with such a big price tag Detroit might ultimately have to keep him as the backup. Howard is owed almost $5.3MM annually for the next three seasons.
  • Former Red Wing Teemu Pulkkinen has been waived again, this time by the Minnesota Wild. The AHL sniper can’t seem to find his footing in the NHL, and will likely be claimed by a team once again. He had one goal in his eight-game stint with Minnesota that was filled with concern about his foot speed at the NHL level. While his shot is incredibly strong, he often couldn’t keep up with the level of play.
  • Tomas Jurco was back skating today at practice, according to Khan. While the young forward hasn’t played this season, he’s set to make his return from a back injury in mid-November.

East Notes: Kessel, Daley, Pulkkinen, Mueller, Ekblad

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Penguins right winger Phil Kessel and defenseman Trevor Daley are both on track in their recovery from injuries sustained in the postseason, writes Bill West of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  Kessel had hand surgery back in July and isn’t expected to participate in much (if any) preseason action but anticipates he’ll be ready when the puck drops to start the season:

“I’ll obviously be out there skating in camp. I’ll progress as it goes. But I’ll be ready to start the first game of the year. … (The hand) feels a lot better now than it did last year.”

As for Daley, who broke his ankle in the Eastern Conference Finals, he has been training hard on the ankle for the last three or four weeks.  He’s set to begin his first full season with Pittsburgh after being acquired from Chicago last December.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • Red Wings right winger Teemu Pulkkinen has been cleared for contact following shoulder surgery back in June, notes MLive’s Ansar Khan. Pulkkinen struggled in his first full NHL campaign last season, spending a lot of time as a healthy scratch.  He got into just 36 games, recording six goals and six assists, a disappointment considering he had scored just over a point per game in the AHL.  The 24 year old is hoping to be able to get into a couple of games towards the end of the preseason with the hoping of being available for Detroit’s season opener.  His recovery appears to be well ahead of schedule as he was originally expected to miss 4-6 months.
  • Forward Peter Mueller, who is attending training camp on a PTO, is open to signing an AHL contract, reports WEEI’s DJ Bean. The willingness to play in the minors hasn’t always been there as two years ago Mueller requested his release after training camp with St. Louis, who had planned to send him to their AHL affiliate.  Last season, Mueller played with Malmo of the SHL, picking up 13 goals and 12 assists in 43 games.  His positional versatility could come in handy for the Bruins as Mueller has spent time at all three forward positions in recent years.
  • The Panthers have decided to bring Aaron Ekblad back to Florida, which all but confirms that he will miss the remainder of the World Cup of Hockey, tweets Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel. Ekblad, who was on Team North America, missed Monday’s game due to an upper body injury.  Still with North America’s back end, Columbus defenseman Ryan Murray missed practice today but is expected to play tomorrow vs Sweden, reports ESPN’s Craig Custance.

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