Wild Re-Sign Caedan Bankier, Carson Lambos

According to a team announcement, the Minnesota Wild have re-signed forward Caedan Bankier and defenseman Carson Lambos to one-year, two-way contracts for the 2026-27 season. Additionally, the team confirmed defenseman David Špaček‘s one-year, two-way deal, which was reported last night.

Bankier, 23, recently wrapped up his third professional season in the Wild organization. Minnesota selected the White Rock, British Columbia native with the 86th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Draft, and he spent two more years with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers before joining the professional ranks.

Unfortunately, his offensive development has stunted, and that’s not uncommon for forward prospects playing for the AHL’s Iowa Wild. Throughout the last three years, Bankier has scored 35 goals and 69 points in 185 games with a -56 rating.

Meanwhile, Lambos, 23, was also selected by the Wild in the 2021 NHL Draft, though 60 picks higher than Bankier in the first round. Given that he was a first-round pick, Lambos had more pedigree as a prospect for Minnesota. He played out his junior career with the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice, and joined the AHL Wild at the same time as Bankier in the 2023-24 season.

Lambos’ development has taken a similar direction. Throughout the last three years in Iowa, Lambos has registered 17 goals and 52 points in 207 games with a -12 rating. Still, due to some injury troubles on the NHL roster, the Wild recalled Lambos in mid-December, allowing him to make his NHL debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The silver lining is that both Bankier and Lambos are young enough that their development could conceivably turn around in the near future. Earlier in the offseason, the Wild hired former defenseman Stu Bickel to be Iowa’s next head coach. Hopefully, Bickel can bring the magic touch to improve Iowa’s fortunes. The team has only qualified for the playoffs twice in its 13-year history.