Wild recall Mayhew, Rau due to Hartman injury

The Minnesota Wild have recalled two forwards in preparation for tonight’s rematch against the Vegas Golden Knights. Gerald Mayhew and Kyle Rau have made their way up from the taxi squad in preparation, while regular forward Ryan Hartman is out with an injury.

As Michael Russo mentions, with the Wild recalling two forwards, there could be a surprise healthy scratch to come against Vegas, since Minnesota would only need to replace the injured Hartman.

Considering the forward’s promotion into the third line center role, and both Mayhew and Rau’s inexperience down the middle at the NHL level, it would have to be a winger that is sent to the sidelines for this one. The only real option would be Nick Bjugstad, who is currently on the fourth line with Nico Sturm and Nick Bonino, but considering he’s been able to secure three points in his last five games while in the depths and playing around 10 minutes a game, it would be an awkward decision to make.

No matter who it is getting the boot, Mayhew and Rau will provide a little bit of clarity on what the Wild have in their depth forwards; the former even played in a support role next to Kirill Kaprizov earlier in the season.

Puck drop at T-Mobile Arena is at 9:00 p.m. CT and with a new-look lineup for the surging Wild, it could disrupt a little bit of the necessary chemistry that has been recently discovered.