Wild Move To Reassign Zack Phillips and Jordan Schroeder

After making moves to clear seven players from training camp this morning, the Wild have made moves to send Zack Phillips and Jordan Schroeder to Iowa. Phillips will be reassigned and Schroeder has been placed on waivers with the intent of getting him to the AHL.

Phillips, as far as prospects go, has been somewhat contentious as many are calling him a bust and many are preaching more patience with Phillips as he continues to develop. At 21 many hope that a first rounder is starting to show signs of being NHL ready at this point. Phillips, who has not yet seen NHL action, took a big step forward last year, in his second season in the AHL, netting 33 points (12-21-33) through 76 games. Clearly the team thinks he is still taking steps forward. The Star Tribune’s Michael Russo quotes coach Mike Yeo saying some positive things about Phillips in his post-game press conference tonight. (Following a 4-1 Wild win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.) It seems possible that Phillips may be in the discussion when talking call-ups this season, where he hadn’t seriously entered the conversation last year.

Schroeder is a player we definitely haven’t heard the last of this season. Injuries will happen and while I believe that Michael Keranen is maybe a step higher on the call-up sheet — if all other things are equal and positioning, size, experience, etc. don’t play a factor in filling a specific role, which they ultimately will — it’s hard to imagine that a player with Schroeder’s potential and NHL ejoxperience won’t get a shot at some games this season.

So where do we stand?

The Wild’s roster is officially at 31. But Gustav Olofsson will be sent to Iowa shortly according to reports, Josh Harding is suspended, Ilya Bryzgalov is on a trout, and Brandon Whitney is an invitee who could get signed, but won’t make the NHL roster.

If we remove those names the lineup is what I’ve got below, with 27 players left in camp. That will be cut down to 23. We’re almost certain to see one more defenseman cut since general manager Chuck Fletcher has said he doesn’t want to keep both Matt Dumba and Christian Folin if they aren’t getting games. He’d rather have them in Iowa where they’re continuing to develop.

Forwards
Charlie Coyle, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Cody Almond, Justin Fontaine, Jason Zucker, Stephane Veilleux, Kyle Brodziak, Nino Niederreiter, Matt Cooke, Thomas Vanek, Brett Sutter, Jason Pominville, Michael Keranen, Curt Gogol, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund

Defensemen
Keith Ballard, Stu Bickel, Christian Folin, Marco Scandella, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Dumba

Goalies
Niklas Backstrom, Darcy Kuemper

Who do you think makes the final roster?