This afternoon, the Minnesota Wild announced that they have put forward Vinni Lettieri on injured reserve and are calling up forward Sammy Walker from their AHL team, the Iowa Wild. Lettieri has a lower-body injury.
Walker, a Minnesota native, has appeared in two games with the Minnesota Wild this season. He’s played 28 games with the Iowa Wild with 19 points this season (5 goals and 14 assists). Over the past two seasons, Walker has skated in 11 games with the Minnesota Wild and has two points during his NHL games (1 goal and 1 assist).
Both the Minnesota and the Iowa Wild teams have been plagued by injuries, decimating both teams. Currently, Mats Zuccarello, Filip Gustavsson, and Lettieri are on Injured Reserve along with Jonas Brodin on Long-Term Injured Reserve. Marcus Foligno is a game-time decision for tonight’s game against the Calgary Flames. Kirill Kaprizov is also out with an upper-body injury considered week-to-week.
The Iowa Wild currently have two forwards (Adam Beckman and Jujhar Khaira) injured. Nic Petan, Jake Lucchini, and Lettieri have already been called up from Iowa to fill in the gaps in the offensive core. Defenseman Dakota Mermis and goalie Zane McIntyre are also still with the Minnesota club.
One piece of good news on the injury front is that goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt is apparently close to recovering from his injury. If he is healthy while Gustavsson is still out, he could make his first regular-season NHL appearance backing up Marc-Andre Fleury.
