The Minnesota Wild have assigned 15 players to the Iowa Wild, eight of whom will be required to clear waivers.
The Minnesota Wild have trimmed their roster to 27 players, sending 15 to the Iowa Wild in the AHL.
Among the 15 players heading to the AHL, eight players will be placed on waivers.
Those eight players heading to waivers are Matt Kierstad, Carson Lambos, Roman Schmidt, Caedan Bankier, Dylan Gambrell, Justin Kirkland, Tyler Pitlick and Mason Shaw. Of those placed on waivers, Lambos is the most interesting case.
The former 26th overall pick of the 2021 NHL draft, Lambos, entered camp in a peculiar spot. At 23 years old, he's still quite young and developing, but his entry-level contract expired, and he lost his waiver exemption.
The Wild will hope Lambos clears waivers, but for the next 24 hours, any of the other 31 teams can claim him.
The other seven players heading to Iowa don't require waivers: Ben Dexheimer, Viking Gustafsson Nyberg, Jagger Joshua, Hunter Haight, Riley Heidt, Rasmus Kumpulainen, and Rieger Lorenz.
Lorenz, Haight, and Gustafsson Nyberg were among the standout performers during pre-season and could very likely earn call-ups during the NHL season.
Additionally, the Wild assigned Kayden Lemire to his junior team, the Prince George Cougars of the WHL.
With these cuts, Charlie Stramel and David Spacek appear to remain with the NHL club until the final cuts on Monday. Stramel has been impressive during pre-season and is fighting hard for a roster spot. He's not projected to be in the lineup in the final pre-season game, but getting additional reps in practice with the NHL club should bode well for his development.
The Wild will need to make four more roster moves to reach the 23-man roster limit. This could involve assigning players to the AHL, placing players on the injured reserve, or making trades.
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