The Minnesota Wild have an NHL roster of 22 players, despite being allowed 23. We can almost guarantee it’s not an oversight; so why would they have less than their quota?
Given the need for injury call-ups and such typically means a player is placed on injured reserve, you’d assume that isn’t the purpose of the spare spot for the Minnesota Wild.
There’s a chance that Paul Fenton knows he wants to make a trade at some point and as such hasn’t bothered to fill out the roster, knowing he wants to do a two-for-one swap, at a guess?
Maybe, it’s being held open as an incentive for those pleading their case with the Iowa Wild. Mason Shaw has been on a tear lately and Cal O’Reilly, despite his age, is proving to be a top-level AHL guy.
If that’s the case, physiologically, it’s quite clever – it gives the Iowa Wild guys a true target and not just a hypothetical ‘we can free up the 23rd spot’ type arrangement. That spot is there, it’s free; and it’s yours for the taking.
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It could also be that Minnesota Wild General Manager, Paul Fenton isn’t a fan of having too many players sitting in the press-box each night. Tonight versus the Buffalo Sabres, he has Joel Eriksson Ek up there with regular seventh defenseman, Nate Prosser.
Maybe he doesn’t want anyone stagnating in the press-box. Maybe that’s the simple answer to this conundrum.
You also have to look at the players that are and aren’t waivers-exempt in the Iowa Wild line-up and there’s clearly a risk to promoting some of them for fear that if you wanted that spot back, you couldn’t return them to Iowa.
One last thought is that it’s purely a money-saving option; by not having someone up in the NHL, you’re not having to pay them their NHL rate. Simple maths states that you save your team a decent chunk of change by employing the 23rd man in the AHL instead.
Only the Minnesota Wild General Manager really knows his thinking here. Safe to presume, there’s some smarts to his approach, whatever they may be.