The American Hockey League is the chief development league for all NHL teams, but the big reason the Wild recalled defenseman Mike Reilly is to aid his development.
A professional rookie, Reilly's stay in Minnesota will be temporary. But the Wild felt it would be healthy to give Reilly a needed respite from the Iowa Wild, which lost all 13 games it played in November.
Reilly, who was a Hobey Baker finalist after leading the Gophers in scoring last season, has a league-worst minus-23.
"That's been a product of the team partly. It's been a grind in Iowa," said Wild assistant GM Brent Flahr, who doubles as Iowa's GM. "It doesn't matter if you're a defenseman, if you're playing that much down there, it's hard to be a plus player right now the way the team's going.
"For him, this will be a learning experience and should be a positive, and then when he gets back there, he'll continue his growth."
The Wild wants Reilly to reset, get a taste of being around the NHL and, most all, work for a little bit with assistant coaches Rick Wilson and Darryl Sydor. In fact, Reilly watched Thursday's game against Toronto with Sydor in the press box.
"He'll be better for it when we get him back to Iowa," Flahr said. "He's a big part of our future. There's been a learning curve, but he's been significantly better lately. We've changed some things in his game. The game is totally different at the pro level [than the college level]. It's something you just don't pick up on.
"The offensive side of the game will come, but you've got to build the base and then the rest happens. It's a hard league down there."
