Wild claim Oilers defenceman Travis Dermott on waivers

A day after facing the Edmonton Oilers, the Minnesota Wild have claimed one of their defencemen: Travis Dermott.

Dermott, 27, signed with the Oilers after attending training camp, impressing in the pre-season, drawing in for just 10 regular season games.

Wild defenceman Jake Middleton was injured early in Thursday’s game, which the Oilers won 7-1, and is expected to be out week-to-week, The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported Friday. Middleton suffered “finger/hand injuries,” Russo added, that likely require surgery.

Dermott landed on waivers Thursday, 24 hours after the team claimed another blue liner, Alec Regula, from the Boston Bruins. Regula, 24, is coming off knee surgery and remains on the injured reserve. According to PuckPedia, that means Regula’s $775,000 cap hit isn’t on the Oilers books, since he’s on a two-way contract and didn’t have any NHL days last season.

It also allows the Oilers to place Regula on a conditioning loan, sending him to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors for up to 14 days to get back in the swing of things. His last game action came on March 24th before his season ended a month early with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. He had a strong season with them, too, scoring four goals and 26 points in 55 games, posting a league-leading +36 +/-.

For the Oilers, losing Dermott depletes some of their defensive depth. While he hadn’t seen much action — or success in the action he saw — he was still someone who could fill in for the Oilers in a pinch, spending the majority of this season as the seventh defenceman.

Edmonton is in the market for blue liners, reports from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said Thursday, with the team opening up their options to left-handed defencemen, too. Friedman listed a number of names including Anaheim Ducks defenceman Pavel Mintyukov and Cam Fowler, Seattle Kraken defenceman Will Borgen, Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Ivan Proverov, Montreal Canadiens defenceman David Savard and Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Alec Martinez.