Wild reduce training camp roster to 34 players

The final Minnesota Wild roster is coming together, bit by bit, transaction by transaction.

Announced by the team on Monday morning, defensemen Daemon Hunt and Simon Johansson, forward Sammy Walker, and goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, have all been assigned to the AHL. In addition to those simple moves, they have placed defenseman Joe Hicketts and forward Joseph Cramarossa on waivers. If they clear, they will be sent down to Iowa.

Previously, the Wild made the easy moves of getting rid of professional try-outs and sending back some certain players to their junior teams, but now the moves are understandable, but hurt a little bit more. Wallstedt just came over and with Filip Gustavsson here, the 19-year-old doesn’t need to be thrust into the NHL. Hunt and Johansson had solid preseasons, but still, the blue line is full. And Walker was just there during training camp, so let’s see what he can do with a full season. Just a whole lot of head-nodding transactions.

While they have not officially announced it, it is expected that the team will eventually cut Carson Lambos from the camp roster, but it is a good sign that he is the last player standing that has to return to junior hockey. He’s getting a good look as the WHL season gets going, so that can only be a positive.

The remaining players in camp are:

Forwards
Tyson Jost, Matt Boldy, Sam Steel, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno, Jordan Greenway, Nic Petan, Brandon Duhaime, Marco Rossi, Connor Dewar, Steven Fogarty, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman, Adam Beckman, Mason Shaw, Mitchell Chaffee, Nick Swaney, Brandon Baddock, Frederick Gaudreau, Kirill Kaprizov

Defensemen
Jon Merrill, Jake Middleton, Matt Dumba, Jonas Brodin, Alex Goligoski, Ryan O’Rourke, Jared Spurgeon, Dakota Mermis, Calen Addison, Andrej Sustr, Carson Lambos

Goaltenders
Marc-Andre Fleury, Zane McIntyre, Filip Gustavsson

Some players are still hanging around to let regulars rest during the preseason — Fogarty, Baddock, Mermis, Sustr, etc. — and others have at least some potential that the Wild coaching staff want to see more of with three preseason games remaining. Next up, they’re facing the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.