Minnesota Wild Suddenly Dump Veteran Defenseman

The Minnesota Wild have placed defenseman Daemon Hunt on waivers as the club works to reintegrate previously injured players into its lineup.

The move, announced Friday, is expected to open a roster spot and, if Hunt clears, position the organization to send the 24-year-old to the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild.

As a pure depth blueliner, he is viewed as unlikely to be claimed by another NHL team.

Hunt’s professional path has been closely tied to Minnesota.

Selected 65th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, he has appeared exclusively in the NHL with the Wild. After turning pro full-time for the 2022-23 season, he spent most of his early career within the organization.

Early in the 2024-25 campaign, the Wild included him in the package sent to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for David Jiříček.

With Columbus, Hunt saw action only at the AHL level with the Cleveland Monsters, where he recorded two goals and 14 points in 48 games while finishing at a minus-8.

He re-signed with the Blue Jackets the following summer, only for Minnesota to reclaim him off waivers prior to the 2025-26 regular season.

Back with the Wild last year, Hunt settled into a limited role. He posted six assists in 32 games, carried a minus-3 rating, and averaged 12:26 of ice time.

He also added an assist across five playoff appearances as an injury fill-in. This season he has remained scoreless through 11 contests while averaging 14:08 per night.

Additional tracking shows four penalty minutes, seven hits, and 11 blocked shots in that span. Should he clear waivers and report to Iowa, it would mark his first AHL games since the 2024-25 season.

The left-shot, 6-foot-1 defender from Brandon, Manitoba, is regarded as a solid skater with capable puck-moving ability. He signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with Minnesota in July.

His waiver placement reflects the typical early-season roster churn that accompanies the return of injured regulars rather than any abrupt drop in standing.

For a player who has already bounced between organizations and levels, the next step is straightforward: clear the wire, resume development or depth duties in Iowa, and wait for another opportunity if injuries or performance create one higher up.