The Minnesota Wild have announced two changes to their roster. They previously recalled Vinni Lettieri to step in while Ryan Hartman served his two-game suspension. They have reassigned Lettieri to the Iowa Wild and recalled defenseman Dakota Mermis.
Defenseman Zach Bogosian sat out of last night’s game with an upper-body injury, and Jared Spurgeon left the ice with an injury but later returned to the bench. The Wild only have enough cap space to carry one extra player. With the small amount of money available and one, possibly two defensemen injured, the Wild have wisely opted to carry an extra defenseman. Bogosian is going along on the trip, signaling that he may be able to return sometime during the four games the Wild will be playing.
While Spurgeon left the ice with a lower-body injury, he did return during the game, and coach John Hynes reported on Monday that Spurgeon was okay. After leaving the ice, unable to bear weight on his left leg, he was back and able to keep up with gameplay after some rest.
Lettieri leaves Minnesota after two more games on the ice and one as a healthy scratch with the big club. During this stint with the Wild, Lettieri saw 17:36 minutes of ice time and one assist.
Mermis joins the club after another stint as Captain of the Iowa Wild. He was the obvious choice after a successful stint with Minnesota while the team dealt with numerous injuries to regular players. This season, Mermis has played 13 games with the Wild and came away with 5 points, 2 goals, and 3 assists.
The Wild leave for a four-game road trip on Monday night. They will face the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, and the Seattle Kraken on Sunday. Their next home game is on Thursday, December 14 against the Flames.
