Minnesota Wild announce training camp roster, injury to Greg Pateryn

The Minnesota Wild have yet to report to training camp, but there’s already an injury to mull over.

Wild defenseman Greg Pateryn will be out indefinitely with what is being listed as an upper-body injury, the team announced Saturday afternoon.

Pateryn, 30, only appeared in 20 games for the Wild during the regular season. He underwent bilateral core muscle repair surgery just before the start of the 2019-20 campaign, and he didn’t make his first appearance in an NHL contest until January 12 against, coincidentally, the Vancouver Canucks — the team the Wild will take on in their best-of-five play-in series.

In his 20 games, Pateryn collected a grand total of three points (all assists) before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Pateryn out indefinitely, the open spot on Minnesota’s third pairing alongside Carson Soucy is Brad Hunt’s to lose (if it was ever even a possibility that Pateryn would supplant Hunt in the first place). Despite the season ending early, Hunt still managed to put together his best statistical season to date with eight goals and 19 points in 59 games.

Along with the news of Pateryn’s injury, the Wild also announced their training camp roster. Some key additions from the American Hockey League include Kaapo Kahkonen, Nico Sturm, J.T. Brown, Gerald Mayhew, Sam Anas and Louie Belpedio, along with several other players hoping to make the expanded roster. The roster will need to be cut down to 31 players before the Wild head up to Edmonton for the 24-team tournament.