Mason Shaw became an important depth piece for the Minnesota Wild last season as a gritty forechecker and strong penalty killer with an ability to contribute offensively.
The Wild recalled Shaw, who the Iowa Wild named captain for the 2022-23 season, after losing their first two games last season. Shaw was the Wild’s first recall, and his stay in Minnesota became permanent. The 25-year-old went on to score 17 points across 62 games, where he played a crucial role on the fourth line and penalty kill.
In fact, Shaw finished with the fifth-highest penalty kill usage among Wild forwards during the 2022-23 season at 83 minutes and 16 seconds in those 62 games, according to Natural Stat Trick.
But Shaw’s rookie season came to an end when he tore his ACL for the fourth time in his young career on April 1 in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights.
Shaw, recovering from his fourth ACL surgery, signed a one-year, one-way contract with Iowa on Oct. 3 and is expected to return to game action sometime this season. But when that could be remains undetermined.
“There is no timeline on him,” Iowa Wild head coach Brett McLean told The Hockey News Saturday of Shaw, who was unavailable for comment.
The positive is that he’s not only skating, but he’s also been participating in some practices with Iowa in a non-contact jersey, McLean said.
“He’s in good spirits, and he’s been skating with us,” McLean said, “and anytime you have a Mason Shaw around your team, that’s a bonus for you.
“So we’re lucky to have a high character person like that around us.”