Cody Almond To Stay In NHL, Report to Iowa
The Minnesota Wild placed forward Cody Almond on waivers following the conclusion of the preseason. After clearing waivers Almond had the option of returning to Genève-Servette HC in the Swiss league, where he has played for the last two seasons.
Today, Star Tribune beat writer Michael Russo is reporting that Almond has decided to report to the Iowa Wild of the AHL in hopes of making a NHL squad this season.
Cody Almond will start year w/ @IAWild vs. returning to Geneva. Hoping for chance to play in #NHL. #mnwild talking trade, wants pick back
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 9, 2014
The somewhat elusive trade note is an interesting twist too. Almond wants to play in the NHL, but if the Wild don’t have a spot for him it may make sense for both parties to trade him in return for a pick. This week’s acquisition of Ryan Carter makes the bottom six a little bit more crowded and difficult to break, which may have effected the decision to discuss a trade. Also at play is Almond’s salary. He’s on a $550,000 one-way deal. A steal at the NHL level, but a lot for the team to pay out for a player if they believe he’ll spend the season in Iowa.
Almond’s contract allows him to opt out of playing the AHL and return to Geneva where he has a contract that runs through the conclusion of the 2018-19 season. Almond has had a lot of success in the Swiss league, so while he would certainly want to play in the NHL given the opportunity, the appeal of returning to the league where he has 26 goals and 45 assists over 102 games in the last two seasons is clear.
Captains Named
In other Iowa Wild news, the team named Stephane Veilleux captain yesterday with Justin Falk and Brett Sutter named alternate captains.