Justin Fontaine Activated Off IR
Prior to Monday night’s win over the Vancouver Canucks, the Minnesota Wild activated winger Justin Fontaine off of injured reserve.
Fontaine had been on IR since getting injured in a January 29 game against the Calgary Flames. He was activated Monday, but was a healthy scratch for Monday’s game. That will likely not be the case for Tuesday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets after both Jason Zucker and Ryan Carter left Monday’s game in the first period with injuries.
Fontaine has been solid defensively despite getting scratched on a number of occasions, yet hasn’t been able to work his way out of the doghouse despite comparing favorably to the other depth players on the team.
Here’s one way of looking through the depth players on the Wild as they compare to Fontaine:
Fontaine compares well. His offensive production is down a bit this season, but he’s proving himself to be a very valuable part of the Wild’s depth chart. His 53.5% Corsi For is is eighth on the team among players who’ve played at least six games. (That’s 11th in relative Corsi For – CF%Rel.)
He’s done that while have the fourth worst zone starts (ZS%Rel) among Wild forwards. Again, he’s been solid inside his role. He’s eating up tough zone starts and doing what the team needs to have done. He’ll fill into Carter’s role well (less the pugilistic abilities) as the lines get shaken up on Tuesday for the first time in quite a while. (And don’t forget that the Wild are without Matt Cooke for 5-6 weeks.)