Minnesota Wild defenseman, Nick Seeler seemed likely to return from his recent upper-body injury when the Minnesota Wild take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, however recent call-ups suggest otherwise.
Nick Seeler missed the Minnesota Wild’s most recent two games against the Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins, where he would’ve likely have played alongside Nate Prosser, as opposed to his regular partner Greg Pateryn who moves up in light of Dumba’s injury.
The recent call-up of Ryan Murphy suggests that he may not quite be ready for a line-up return but you’d assume he is close and will still travel on the road-trip.
Playing on average around thirteen minutes a game, Nick Seeler isn’t about to return and be a game-changer for the Minnesota Wild. However, he does serve as a stabilising presence on their third pairing.
Per Michael Russo of The Athletic on Twitter, his return was expected as Matt Bartkowski found himself re-assigned back to the Iowa Wild:
Matt Bartkowski reassigned, so Nick Seeler could be returning in Toronto unless they call somebody else up or Bartkowski again for the road trip
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) January 1, 2019
The spanner was thrown in the works though when Ryan Murphy was subsequently called up from the AHL team, suggesting either there’s a further injury or that Seeler isn’t quite ready to get back into action.
Given that the Minnesota Wild have lost quite a few games this season, you’d expect a third pairing defenseman to be down at least a few points in terms of his plus-minus. Nick Seeler is sitting on 0 this year, despite the number of goals the team is conceding.
That says a lot for his ability to read plays and limit opportunities; something that will be vital if the Minnesota Wild are to recover their season.
A one-off burst of scoring against the St. Louis Blues saw Seeler notch a goal and two assists back in early November, but you’d hardly be mistaking him for Ryan Suter or Matt Dumba in the point-producing department. That’s not his game.
Depending on the nature of his upper-body injury and how recovered he truly is, I’d expect to see the shot-blocking of Nick Seeler on full show for the Minnesota Wild once more upon his eventual return; his average of 1.6 blocks per game is only matched on the team by Jonas Brodin and will no doubt be required.
For a Minnesota Wild team that lost so many players last season to injuries, it’s always nice to see one return and within a short time frame. The long-term loss of Matt Dumba this season still hurts, but the speedy recovery of depth guys like Nick Seeler should at least help fill in the holes in the line-up.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s always nice to see Iowa Wild players that have earned a promotion to the big league, but it’s nice to have a roster piece that has already truly earned his stripes in the NHL this season back.