Although the focus of the Minnesota Wild this offseason has been retooling the club in Minnesota, quietly they have added some great pieces to headline next season in Iowa. As the Wild hold their summer development camp in St. Paul, it’s hard not to realize that the future of the team is bright.
While the Minnesota Wild have been looking to improve their NHL club in Minnesota this offseason, they have simultaneously been improving their AHL affiliate in Iowa as well. Through a slew of signings Chuck Fletcher has given an infusion of fresh talent into the talent starved group in Des Moines. The hope is that the young talent will not only climb the Iowa Wild out of the AHL cellar but further develop what is becoming a bright young talent base.
The group who will be joining Iowa this upcoming season are a good mix of drafted players and entry-level free agents. The Wild may have been short on draft picks the last couple of offseasons, but they have drafted smartly and augmented appropriately through free-agents. Slated to join Iowa this next season will be a strong group of players from the NCAA, CHL, and European leagues.
The largest talent infusion is from players who cut their teeth in the NCAA. Former first round pick forward Alex Tuch headlines a solid group of college players looking to start their professional journeys next season in Iowa. Tuch will join his Boston College teammate forward Adam Gilmour, Quinnipiac forward Sam Anas, Nortre Dame and former Wayzata standout Mario Lucia, and former Gopher defenseman Nick Seeler as group who will fill-in nicely for a point stared Iowa team.
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Tuch and Anas have already shown a ton of chemistry playing together in team’s development camp that started on Tuesday. Iowa coach Derek Lalonde already has been quoted by Dan Myers of wild.com that “fans in Iowa should get used to the idea of the two playing together.”
From the Europe the Wild will be looking to Hungarian goaltender Adam Vay to make an impact with the team much like he did at the IIHF World Championships in May. He’ll look to battle Steven Michalek to backup recently signed NHL vet Alex Stalock as he continues to his quest to be the first Hungarian born NHL player.
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Also, there is a big possibility that strong shooting center and 2015’s first round pick Joel Eriksson-Ek will join Iowa next season as well. Although there have been conflicting reports as to if he’s going to stay in Sweden or not, the Wild management have re-iterated that he is under contract and they have not made a final decision on where he will play next season yet. But with his outstanding play in prospect camp already, the team would be hard pressed not to have him start the season in Iowa but plan to make their final decision after training camp in September.
(2/2) #mnwild AGM Brent Flahr: "He's under contract with the Wild and we have not made any decisions yet on what's best for him next season"
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) May 25, 2016
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So as the development camp wraps up on Sunday, and the team invites the contract players to training camp it’s hard not to realize that talent in Iowa next season will be markedly better than it has in years. The future for the Wild looks great and it will certainly be a story to follow as a new coach and his newly infused talent pick up the pieces of the Iowa Wild, and build the future of the big club in Minnesota.