Wild add lots of depth in flurry of signings

Nobody will lose their minds over these signings, but four signings have certainly added depth for the Minnesota Wild and their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.

Forwards Nic Petan, Brandon Baddock, Steven Fogarty and defenseman Andrej Sustr signed two-way contracts, with Fogarty and Petan getting the only multi-year deals at two years apiece. Each deal tops out at $750,000, so they will have little bearing on the cap stress we are all very aware of.

Of the four players, only Sustr and Petan have much NHL experience.

Sustr — a towering, physical defenseman at 6-foot-7 and 217 lbs — has played 361 NHL games between the Tampa Bay Lightning and, most recently, the Anaheim Ducks. With just one goal and five assists in 38 games last season, he won't provide much offense but does bring that physicality the team feels is lacking on defense.

Petan has always been a tweener. Too good for the AHL but not impactful enough at the NHL level. In 154 NHL games, he has six goals and 24 assists. In the AHL, he averages just under a point per game. In a pinch, he may serve as an emergency call-up. Otherwise, he will serve as a great leader on a middling AHL squad looking to improve.

Baddock and Fogarty are both career AHLers, so don't expect to see them in a Minnesota Wild jersey this year unless it all goes terribly wrong.