Tyler Graovac Making Case For NHL Time with Minnesota Wild

There have not been many forwards called up by the Wild this year. As much as the mumps and injuries have really hurt the defense, there have been relatively few player games missed by forwards. Matt Cooke has missed 17 with his hip flexor injury, Zach Parise missed a few and Erik Haula missed two as a precaution after taking an elbow to the head from the Rangers’ John Moore, but the forward group has been relatively healthy.

When the team has needed to bring up a player, the selections made have been safe. The team has leaned toward muscle and NHL experience. Not a terrible strategy since the coaches know what they want and when they’ve been missing guys like Parise or Haula, they’ve made the choice to look for someone who can help stabilize the lineup and allow the coaching staff to create a game plan knowing exactly how many minutes they can trust a player with.

But the call-ups have been low risk guys whose upside is well known and, frankly, pretty limited. Stephane Veilleux has grabbed five games, registering no points and four shots. Stu Bickel has been up as a forward for an extended period, though he hasn’t found his way into the lineup often and when he has the ice time has been extremely limited. (In three games he has played 6:00, 2:04, and 3:41 minutes.) Joel Rechlicz got a call-up, though never saw the ice.

The only forward they’ve called up who may not have shown us his ceiling is Jordan Schroeder and he just got a single game, putting up two shots and two penalty minutes in a pretty healthy 12:06 of ice time.

While I’d love to see Schroeder get a little more than one night and he was the Iowa Wild scoring leader at the time of his call-up, he’s been on a bit of a slump. He’s got just one goal and three assists over the last nine games with 17 shots in that stretch. (He did not suit up for Monday’s game against the Charlotte Checkers.)

Now, Then

A call-up may not be necessary for Tuesday’s game against the New York Islanders, but it’s a possibility. Charlie Coyle missed practiced Monday with his don’t-call-it-the-mumps stomach illness and may not be available for Tuesday’s game. Even if he isn’t, the team could suit up Bickel and not call up a player from Iowa.

Whether they do or do not, it’s time that Tyler Graovac got a shot at his cup of coffee.

In fact, if it is Coyle out, Graovac is the perfect replacement for Coyle.

Graovac has great size and skill. He’s the kind of power forward the team has been looking to add to the roster. You saw that desire with acquisition of Coyle and of Nino Niederreiter. You especially saw it in the 2014 draft when the team grabbed 6-foot-4, 220 pound Alex Tuch (who leads Boston College in scoring) with their first round pick and then picked 6-foot-2, 200 pound Pavel Jenys in the seventh round.

Graovac is that kind of player at 6-foot-5, 200 pounds. He’s developing nicely and is just 21, primed for his first taste of NHL play.

He started the season a little slow, but currently leads the Iowa Wild in goals and assists and has been on fire over the last 11 games, recording seven goals and six assists. He’s also taken 30 shots over that span.

He’s got the size and skills to make an impact, just like he did in Monday’s Iowa game, where he took home first star honors after scoring a goal and two assists in the 4-3 win. He’s got a great shot and the plays he was making in that game are the exact kind of plays the NHL Wild need, a shoot-first and drive-the-net kind of mentality.

Graovac’s goal on Monday came because he was driving the net hard and his primary assist on Jonathon Blum‘s goal was because Graovac took the puck out of the corner and drove the net hard, took a shot, and the rebound hit Blum on the stick. In that play Graovac showed strength, hands, and great instincts.

There’s a lot of talent in Iowa still, which can be hard to see through all the losses at times, but Graovac hasn’t yet revealed his ceiling. Even if it doesn’t stick, giving Graovac a shot at the NHL level may be an inspired decision. If he brings to the NHL Wild what he brings to the AHL Wild, you’re adding a strong player with good size who has great offensive instincts and would fit will in a role down the line-up.

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t, but at a minimum you’re giving a hungry player a taste of his ultimate goal, which may send him back to Iowa more hungry than before.

If you haven’t read it yet, take a look at Andrew’s profile of Tyler Graovac from earlier in the season.