Wild Announce Multiple Roster Moves

The Minnesota Wild have made some changes at the bottom of their forward corps. First, Minnesota announced that they recalled forward Rieger Lorenz from the AHL’s Iowa Wild. Additionally, the Wild have reassigned forward Tyler Pitlick and placed Nick Foligno on injured reserve.

In a separate transaction, the Wild announced they also recalled depth defenseman Matt Kiersted. To make financial room for Kiersted, Minnesota moved netminder Filip Gustavsson to the long-term injured reserve as he recovers from offseason hip surgery.

Lorenz, 22, is in his first full season of professional hockey after recently completing his collegiate tenure. Minnesota selected him with the 56th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, and Lorenz played his collegiate hockey at the University of Denver.

After his freshman season, Lorenz became remarkably consistent with the Pioneers. In his final three years, Lorenz scored 39 goals and 85 points in 131 games with a +60 rating, helping the Pioneers win two National Championships throughout his tenure. After his senior season, Lorenz signed his entry-level contract with the Wild.

Despite going scoreless in his first three professional contests last season, Lorenz has gotten off to a hot start in Des Moines this year. Through AHL Iowa’s first two games, Lorenz has scored two goals and three points with a +3 rating. Given his contractual flexibility on a waiver-exempt two-way deal, it makes sense that the Wild would want him in the bottom six for cheap offensive upside.

Meanwhile, the corresponding roster moves were less than surprising. Minnesota recalled Pitlick a few days ago, and he served as a healthy scratch against the Lightning last night. Furthermore, Foligno remains on a day-to-day timeline with his upper-body ailment. Since his placement on the injured reserve is retroactive to October 6th, he’ll be eligible to return next Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets. Ultimately, Foligno is guaranteed to miss at least three games because of his injury.