Jordan Schroeder And Jonathon Blum Returned To Iowa Wild

The Minnesota Wild have returned Jordan Schroeder and Jonathon Blum to the Iowa Wild.

Blum’s reassignment is interesting because it implies that Matt Dumba may get an extended stay in the NHL. After a nice showing in the game against Buffalo where Dumba scored a goal, was very visible offensively, and got 16:11 in ice time, he played just 12:24 in Saturday’s game against Arizona.

He seemed like a lock to get sent back to the AHL, but that doesn’t appear to be a given any longer.

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Someone was bound to go with Ryan Suter having served his two-game suspension now and ready to return to the lineup. With Suter back on the ice and Blum in Iowa, the healthy scratch is likely to be either Dumba or Nate Prosser going forward. With the team committed to Dumba’s development and not wanting him to be on the NHL roster and not playing, it seems that it’s almost certainly going to be Prosser who is getting scratched with Dumba on the roster, at least for Monday night.

After Monday and Tuesday’s games it’s the start of the All Star break, so it’s not clear who the team will handle the blueline after that point. Dumba could be up for an extended stay or they could just be getting him one more NHL before the break, then returning him to Iowa and bringing another defenseman up.

Development is a tricky thing. It’s hard to know from outside the system what exactly a player needs to do in order to become the player they could be. Even if you can spot the trouble areas for a player, it’s hard to say that X, Y, or Z is going to be the correct path to correct those problems or complete his development.

That’s why I’m not opposed to seeing what the team does with him. I love seeing him on the NHL roster because I think the team is better with him on it. He’s already the best option for the third pairing, but his development is the priority and you’d rather see him reach his potential and aid the team long-term rather than to be the slight upgrade they’re getting right now because it’s convenient.

Schroeder seemed like he was going to get sent down inevitably. He played excellent in the first game of his call-up, taking a team-leading seven shots against Chicago on January 8. He was far less visible in the next game against Nashville and then he was scratched three times in a row. He’s 24, so development isn’t really a concern, but the team is better off with a talented forward like him playing somewhere rather than sitting in the press box.

Schroeder has been lighting it up for Iowa and it’s good for that team and for him to keep his production going in case the NHL Wild do need to call on him.