With the Minnesota Wild calling up defensemen Justin Falk and Stu Bickel to replace the injured Jonas Brodin while Christian Folin and Keith Ballard are out sick, the Iowa Wild were left with just five defensemen. That’s why they’ve signed Nick Rioux to a professional tryout (PTO).
I-80 report: #IAWild signs D-man Nick Rioux from @myqcmallards to PTO. #mnwild call-up @StuBickel and @JuicerFalk made signing necessary,
— Tom Witosky (@toskyAHLWild) October 29, 2014
Rioux is currently a defenseman with the Quad City Mallards, one of the Wild’s two ECHL affiliates. He’s played in all three Mallard games so far this season. Rioux, 28, played eight games with the Wild on a PTO last season as well. He didn’t have any points in his brief stint in the AHL.
He finished his season in the CHL last year (the Mallards were in the CHL last season, but were a part of the CHL / ECHL merger this fall) with 27 assists, eighth among all CHL defensemen. He also added five goals and a plus-16 rating.
A native of Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, he played NCAA hockey for St. Cloud State.
The Iowa Wild play the Milwaukee Admirals tonight in Milwaukee, where Rioux will join the team. You can listen to the game live by tuning into KXNO on iHeartRadio.