ST. PAUL, MINN. – The Wild signed Vinni Lettieri to be a strong depth forward to push for an NHL spot and in the last couple of preseason games he's played in, he's looked like he should be an NHL mainstay.
There's no doubt that the Wild are in a tight cap crunch, but Lettieri has proven throughout camp and in preseason games that he should be a full-time NHL player and tonight was another example.
Lettieri has been a near-point-per-game player in the AHL throughout his career and has shown flashes of offensive skill in his 83 NHL games with the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers.
In 83 games, Lettieri has recorded seven goals and 18 points in five NHL seasons. He has racked up 116 goals and 229 points in 267 career AHL games across eight seasons.
Tonight, Lettieri collected two assists in the Wild's 4-2 win over the Avalanche while notching two shot assists, which was tied with Mats Zuccarello for the team lead.
"Everyone talked about his speed and how he's a good offensive guy," Wild head coach Dean Evason said on learning more about Lettieri's game. "He's got bite to his game, he plays hard, he doesn't shy away from the dirty areas, and he's involved physically. That's probably the biggest surprise for me."
The Minnesota native did just that on the Wild's second goal of the game. Lettieri pressured Keaton Middleton in the corner and forced him to cough up the puck. Lettieri then fed one to Nic Petan who caught Alex Goligoski streaking in.
Not only did Lettieri notch two assists and three shots but he also had three hits which led the team.
According to Natrual Stat Trick, Lettieri's line with Adam Beckman and Sammy Walker allowed only one high-danger scoring chance against.
Lettieri also ranked second on the team in Corsi For behind Walker and third on the team in overall gamescore which takes into account a player's offensive contributions and defensive contributions.
"They are very creative players," Lettieri said on playing with Walker and Petan throughout camp. "They work very hard and it's not all show with them even though they have that type of skill. It's kind of the next-man-up mentality getting to the net front or getting to the corners. It's been good playing with them."
It will be interesting to see how the Wild handle the situation of Lettieri but as we know injuries happen in camp and throughout preseason so that may open a spot for Lettieri to take.
But Lettieri has definitely shown he is capable of playing at the NHL level with the way he has played recently for the Wild. But with Minnesota only having $818,079 in camp space, carrying Lettieri's $775,000 cap hit would leave the Wild with only $43,079 in cap.
As he plays more preseason games for Minnesota, Lettieri will continue to make it hard for the Wild brass to make a decision about where the 28-year-old forward ends up at the start of the season.
