The Minnesota Wild made a slight tweak to their roster today as they placed recently acquired forward Teemu Pulkkinen on waivers. What is unclear right now is why the Wild made that move and what the young Finn’s future is with the club.
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When the Minnesota Wild claimed Teemu Pulkkinen off of waivers from the Detroit Red Wings the State of Hockey was abuzz with speculation and hope. The young Finn had a lot to offer the Wild who were a bit starved for NHL ready talent. He was expected to step in and add instant depth to after some of the Wild’s preseason options to fill out their forward depth chart did not work out.
Pulkkinen was actually a very valuable part of the Red Wings organization that the Wings did not want to lose, but due to roster priorities and just lack of room he was put on waivers. The Wild swooped in to pick him up and hoped that his excellent shot would be a difference maker.
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It sure did look like that shot was going to make a difference as Pulkkinen recorded a goal in his second home game for the Wild a 6-3 victory against the Kings. He was off to a good start and looked to have a place in the Wild lineup.
Since then he went a bit cold. Always known as a dominate scorer in the AHL, Pulkkinen had issues with the Red Wings in turning that success at the lower level in to success in the NHL. The Wild had hoped this would change with a simple change of scenery, but it just seemed that Pulkkinen struggles continued in the NHL with his new team.
The problem though is are the Wild giving up on him, or they simply sending him down to Iowa in order to let another player get sometime in the lineup? Bruce Boudreau called the move to put him on waivers today a move that was made to create flexibility in the lineup. The issue though is what is that flexibility?
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Some say it is so when Erik Haula can rejoin the lineup the Wild can have more cap room. That tune seems to be grating on me that the Wild in are in such cap dire straits that they have to make moves like this constantly. The issue becomes when do we see this stop and how?
Right now the Wild’s offense is functioning very well, so what would be the urgency to pull Pulkkinen out of the lineup? The probability that the club wants to replace him with someone in Iowa is highly questionable given the performance of the forward group in Iowa thus far. None of them look particularly ready to be up full time.
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Looking forward for what the future holds for Pulkkinen on the Wild, its anybody’s guess. It looks like Iowa for now. He’s had eight games to rack up some goals, but I still contend they need to give him a bit more time. But with Haula coming back and the salary cap a mess, the Wild might not have had much choice. Well let’s hope if he makes it to Iowa he can do some good there.