Minnesota Wild Place A Pair Of Veterans On NHL Waivers

As the Minnesota Wild gear up to welcome back a slew of important players, they have made roster moves in anticipation.

On Monday, the Wild placed defenseman Cameron Crotty and forward Tyler Pitlick on NHL waivers for the purpose of being assigned to the Iowa Wild of the AHL.

Crotty was claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators just over a week ago. Although the 27-year-old never saw NHL action with the Wild, he served as an extra defenseman in case of any additional injuries. 

Crotty did play three NHL games with the Senators before the Wild claimed him. If the Senators place a waiver claim on Crotty and none of the other 30 NHL teams do, they can assign him directly to their AHL affiliate without the use of waivers.

As for Pitlick, he's skated in 12 NHL games this season because of the sheer number of injuries the Wild have dealt with. In those 12 games, the 35-year-old has failed to record any points, averaging 7:39 of ice time.

If Crotty and Pitlick clear waivers, they'll join an Iowa squad with a 6-6-2-1 record and third-place standing in the Central Division.

The moves come ahead of a road matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. Over the weekend, the Wild welcomed back the Foligno brothers and, after activating them from injured reserve, brought their roster to 23 players.

Brock Faber is joining the team on the road trip, and to activate him from the IR and stay under the salary cap, the Wild needed to remove two players from the roster. They clearly value what David Spacek and Matt Kiersted have brought to the blue line and want to keep them in the NHL.

They also value Sturm's versatility and don't want to put him on waivers either. 

While this doesn't necessarily guarantee Faber will return on Tuesday, it does indicate he will be in the lineup very soon.

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