Minnesota Wild: A Chance For Some Younger Depth In Goal?

Another day, another chance for the Minnesota Wild to make a splash and make a waiver claim. It’s seeming unlikely at this point, but fact is that there are some decent players being waived that could add value to the team.

Jared Coreau of the Anaheim Ducks is the latest waived player that I think would make a good pick-up for the Minnesota Wild.

The Minnesota Wild organisation has plenty of goaltending depth; however the majority of it is thirty or above. Coreau offers, as with most waivers options, a low-risk bet on a young guy that may yet prove to be at least NHL backup standard.

We’ve looked at how Andrew Hammond has a chance at the team and Alex Stalock has the backup spot as his to lose, but beyond that we’re waiting for the development of Kaapo Kahkonen to reach a point where an NHL promotion is awarded to him.

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Coreau offers the perfect stop-gap solution; not only is he 26 years old and thus at least four years younger than the current options, he also has a little NHL experience, having seen 21 games in net for the Detroit Red Wings.

His glimpse of NHL action doesn’t exactly paint a strong case for the Minnesota Wild to acquire him, but remember this was behind a team that finished quite near the base of the ladder.

In those 21 games, he has a ghastly 3.74 goals against average and a significantly below par 0.880 save percentage.

However, his American Hockey League totals tell a different story. In a much larger sample size of 148 games, he has a 2.44 goals against average and a 0.918 save percentage; far more commendable numbers.

This tells us one of two things; he was stuck behind a poor Detroit Red Wings team or his ceiling is as an AHL starter.

Either way, given he’s available at no cost bar his salary to the Minnesota Wild, I think he’s a guy worth betting on. His AHL record is decent enough for him to add value with the Iowa Wild if he’s not deemed good enough for the big club.