A week before their season starts, the Wild have readied their roster.
Wild finalize roster, send Jesper Wallstedt and Sammy Walker to Iowa
Jujhar Khaira, Vinni Lettieri, Dakota Mermis and Nic Petan were waived; if they clear, they'll go to Iowa as well.
October 4, 2023 at 8:58PM
They are down to 21 players after sending forward Sammy Walker and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to the minors on Wednesday and placing forwards Jujhar Khaira, Vinni Lettieri and Nic Petan along with defenseman Dakota Mermis on waivers to assign them to the American Hockey League. If they clear, they'll also report to Iowa.
The Wild do still have four other players on their training camp roster, but forwards Caedan Bankier, Sam Hentges and Michael Milne are hurt and will be designated as injured non-roster players. Defenseman Daemon Hunt will join Iowa once he's cleared after getting injured in camp. Rosters are officially due to the NHL on Monday.
So, who's left?
Everyone expected to be with the Wild.
Brock Faber is the newest addition on defense, the former Gopher and Maple Grove native returning following an impressive NHL debut in the spring.
Marco Rossi is back after making the team out of camp last year before spending most of the season with Iowa. Pat Maroon, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, is the other change at forward; the Wild traded for him during the offseason.
This lineup has two games left to prepare for Opening Night, beginning Thursday at Chicago before the preseason finale on Saturday vs. Dallas at Xcel Energy Center.
Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson are scheduled to split those two tune-ups, with Fleury up first. The season starts next Thursday at home against Florida.
With two goalies, seven defensemen and 12 forwards, the Wild have only one extra skater (on defense) — a breakdown indicative of their salary cap situation.
Currently, with 21 players and the nearly $15 million charge for the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, the Wild are barely $800,000 under the $83.5 million ceiling. By carrying less than the 23-player limit, the team can create more spending power as the season goes on and the cost of contracts declines as they're paid out.
The star forward came back from a brief injury absence, and two goals from Frederick Gaudreau helped Minnesota to another road victory.
