When Sammy Walker signed with the Wild in August, he thought he'd be paying his dues in the minor leagues for a good long while.
Wild rookie Sammy Walker puts on a showcase in December debut
The native Minnesotan was called up earlier than he — or anyone — expected to patch up a depleted forward corps.
December 28, 2022 at 11:15PM
Yet his first call-up came on Dec. 9, and he scored his first NHL goal Tuesday after a second promotion from Iowa of the American Hockey League.
Who could have expected the December debut?
"I don't think anyone did," Walker said Wednesday. "It's unbelievable, nice to have a good start in Iowa and have this opportunity — [I'm] just trying to make the most of it."
The first goal came in his fifth NHL game, late in a 4-1 victory in Winnipeg. With Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck out for a sixth attacker, Wild coach Dean Evason threw out the Matt Boldy-Freddy Gaudreau-Walker line.
Gaudreau cleared the defensive zone, Boldy found Walker breaking in on the right side and the rookie gave Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey a slight deke and hit the empty net from 40 feet out.
"I was kind of holding it and holding it and was kind of waiting for someone … but you can't pass that up, so I just threw it in there," Walker said with a laugh. He is the 19th Minnesota-born player to score for the Wild, and got a shaving cream towel from teammates that "took a while" to recover from — "burning in the eyes, stuck in the hair."
That the Wild coaches trusted him in an end-of-game situation "definitely gives me more confidence," Walker added.
Said Evason: "If Sammy Walker didn't play well throughout the game, he wouldn't be on the ice there."
The transition from college hockey, where rinks are often larger and play less physical, was Walker's hurdle as a 23-year-old who is a bit undersized (5-10 and 174 pounds).
"Trying to be quick and slippery so I don't get hit," he joked.
"Guys are bigger, stronger … so I'm just trying to use my speed. You kind of get grittier, especially in the corners and in front of the net."
Walker played four seasons for Edina High School and then four for the Gophers, where he was a three-time captain, scoring 48 goals in 144 games.
Taken in the seventh round (200th overall) of the 2017 NHL draft by Tampa Bay, Walker become a free agent this summer when his signing rights with the Lightning expired. He signed with the Wild, who needed young forward depth in their system.
He is the leading rookie scorer in the AHL with 12 goals and 12 assists in 23 games for Iowa. And it's likely he will be up and down from Des Moines this season. With forwards Brandon Duhaime (upper body), Marcus Foligno (lower body) and Mason Shaw (serving a suspension) out this week, Walker and Adam Beckman are in the lineup Thursday night against the Stars at Xcel Energy Center.
One or both probably will stick around through the New Year's Eve game in St. Louis — Beckman is still looking for his first NHL goal — before the Wild play only one game in a six-day stretch next week.
"It's such a process, right?" Evason said. "There's such a negativity about going down to the minors … [but] it really isn't. … If you go down … and turn that into a positive, you work your butt off, score some goals and defend well down there, when you get that break, that opportunity, when you come up, and play well, now it's an easy call.
"Like, 'Oh my gosh, how easy is it to call up Sammy Walker?' Fit him right into our line with Gaudreau and Boldy, it was an easy fit."
Walker is eager to make the most of his chances.
"There's going to be highs and lows in your career, so just take it even keel and hopefully get that call back up," he said.
For the Wild, four points behind the league-leading Jets, this will be their most anticipated matchup against a division rival since they lost 2-1 to the Stars on Nov. 16.
