Iowa Reassigns Ryan Walters, Releases Joe Stejskal
The Iowa Wild, despite a bevy of injuries, have reassigned rookie forward Ryan Walters to the Alaska Aces of the ECHL. The team has also released defenseman Joe Stejskal from his professional tryout (PTO).
ROSTER MOVES: #IAWild has assigned Ryan Walters to @AlaskaAces, and Joe Stejskal has been released from his PTO. http://t.co/wbxT3HlYqH
— Iowa Wild (@IAWild) February 26, 2015
Stejskal was signed to his PTO on February 7. In his time with Iowa he suited up in seven games, recording four penalty minutes and no points.
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The 26-year-old defender is expected to return to the Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL, where he was the captain of the team before signing his PTO. He has four goals and 15 assists through 41 games with the Gladiators this season.
Walters has spent 20 games with Iowa this season through a couple separate stints, totaling one goal, seven assists, six penalty minutes, and a minus-2 rating on the season.
His current trip to play with Iowa began in Iowa’s February 6 game and had him suiting up in ten games, through which he only totaled two assists, including an assist in Tuesday’s loss to the Grand Rapids Griffins.
He’ll return to the Aces, where he’s had a very strong rookie season, totaling 10 goals and 13 assists through 26 games.
The Aces beat the Colorado Eagles 2-1 in a shootout last night and will play a back-to-back against them on Friday and Saturday as a part of an ongoing five-game road trip. Walters is expected to be in the lineup on Friday.
Unfortunately, with a record of 25-22-3-2, the Aces are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, despite having won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup for the second time in four years last season.
The Aces could use a player who is averaging nearly a point per game back on the roster as they look to grab a couple of wins over the weekend and fight fading mathematically from the playoff race.