The Minnesota Wild need to finalize their roster at 23 players Tuesday, as they prepare to open the regular season on Thursday in Colorado.
The Wild have 25 players on the roster right now and need to be at 23 by 4 p.m. Tuesday. However, two players are dealing with injuries and could end up on injured reserve.
Justin Fontaine (oblique), who has missed most of camp, and Erik Haula (groin) skated Monday, but Wild coach Mike Yeo wasn’t giving a lot of hints about what he might do.
Head Coach Mike Yeo caught up with media today to talk about the #mnwild roster and more: http://t.co/Ykbie2Hwbn
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 5, 2015
“He’s missed a significant portion of camp,” Yeo told reporters Monday. “So even if he is healthy enough to play, there are some other parts that go into it in terms of getting his conditioning up to snuff, getting his legs underneath him and making sure his game is up there, too. He’s missed a lot of time here. So we’ll see how it goes.”
Two guys that could be most affected by the decision on Haula and Fontaine are Jordan Schroeder and former Gopher standout Mike Reilly. One or both of them could be sent to the Wild’s AHL affiliate in Iowa, if either Haula or Fontaine play on Thursday.
In addition to who’s on the roster, the Wild have been shuffling the lineup around trying to put together their best one.
One example of that, according to the Pioneer Press, is the movement of Charlie Coyle. He came into camp as a center, but appears to be destined for play at right wing on the third line along side Thomas Vanek and Taylor Graovoc this season.
“It’s just a normal thing now,” Coyle told the newspaper. “I think it can be a good thing both for me personally and for the team if we have a guy go down. Usually I’ll be able to fill in at center or wing. It should be a good tool for me and the team.”
His durability and production can certainly help at both spots. Coyle finished last season with 35 points and was one of just two Wild players to play in all 82 games last year.
