Prior to their game against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, the Minnesota Wild made a roster move as they assigned Hunter Haight to the Iowa Wild in the AHL. The move comes after Haight failed to generate a shot in his first two NHL games. They also recalled Ben Jones from Iowa to serve as the extra forward.
The move indicates that the Wild have decided to go with Danila Yurov in a fourth line role over Haight. Yurov made his NHL debut on Monday in the Wild’s 4-3 shootout win over Los Angeles. Skating on a fourth line with Liam Ohgren and Vinnie Hinostroza, Yurov played 10:05 and generated one shot off of two attempts while going 6-for-8 in the face-off circle.
Head coach John Hynes never seemed comfortable carrying three rookie forwards in Yurov, Haight, and Ohgren, but the late injury reaggravation of Nico Sturm’s injury necessitated the move. Had Yurov seized the role in training camp, Haight likely doesn’t make the opening night roster, but an up-and-down preseason from the first-year forward from Russia led to him being a healthy scratch for the first two games of the season.
Yurov seems better suited for the bottom-six role as he is a tenacious forechecker that plays a heavy game along the boards. He does have the offensive skills to keep opponents honest and provide some depth scoring behind the Wild’s electric top two lines.
Haight, who had a solid AHL debut with Iowa last season, had a few flashes of skill, but failed to make an impact in his two appearances. The 21-year-old will benefit from getting more ice time in Iowa instead of sitting in the press box in Minnesota. Depending on how injuries impact the Wild moving forward, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he makes a return to the NHL if they need him.
Ben Jones, a 26-year-old forward, is serving as Iowa’s captain this season and had posted two assists in their first two games. He could see some ice time if Hynes feels like Ohgren or Yurov struggle on the ice. If that does happen, and Sturm’s injury lingers, Bill Guerin could be active on the waiver or trade market as he looks to bring in a veteran to fill that fourth-line role.
The Wild are off to a solid start with two wins in their first three games, but they’ve been highly reliant on their power play. After scoring four times at 5v5 in their season opener against St. Louis, they’ve failed to register an even-strength goal in their last two outings. They have, however, scored seven times on the power play. Unfortunately, that is not a sustainable offense, and they will eventually need to get some offense from all four lines.