In order to get down to their 23-man roster by Friday afternoon, the Minnesota Wild have placed Nick Palmieri, Stephane Veilleux and Jake Dowell on waivers. The move is a standard one in order for all three players to be reassigned to the AHL affiliate, Houston Aeros. It’s also a complicated risk given any NHL club can now claim any of the three forwards, but must do so before Friday’s deadline of noon EST.
Dowell and Veilleux don’t come as a surprise that they didn’t crack the opening night roster, but Palmieri’s demotion is. Signed to a two-way contract just the other day, Palmieri was said to have a legitimate shot at making the 23-man roster given his size and speed. He would add another powerful forward who likes to bang and crash. In the end the Wild went with two scrappers in Matt Kassian and newly acquired Zenon Konopka.
Keep in mind these moves are never the last the club will make this year, but they do risk losing the services of the three players placed on waivers.
The top 13 forward positions became a little more crowded when Pierre-Marc Bouchard was officially activated off the injured reserved list and is currently awaiting medical clearance to return to game action.
It’s hard to gauge whether or not any of the three players placed on the wire will be claimed. Given the game that Palmieri plays, he could arguably be the most popular of the three, but it depends on which clubs have a need for that type of player. More importantly, do they have room on their roster?
Maybe the Wild will escape the Friday deadline and hang on to all three.