Minnesota's injuries highlight Iowa's problems developing prospects – Minnesota Wild

Almost everything went well for the Minnesota Wild in the 2024-2025 season. Kirill Kaprizov is playing at a different level and young core players like Marco Rossi, Brock Faber and Matt Boldy continue to develop. Filip Gustavsson has shaken off last year's inconsistency to become one of the league's elite goaltenders.

A series of injuries was the only thing that could stop their run. In recent weeks, the Wild have featured Jake Middleton, Jonas Brodin, Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek among the players who have missed games.

The Wild have continued to win games despite health issues, but it is concerning that the team has been missing so many regular players. On December 12, the short-handed Wild had no chance against the Edmonton Oilers, losing 7-1.

If Minnesota wants to avoid more games like this, it must find adequate replacements for the regulars in the lineup. Unfortunately, Iowa is unlikely to provide these replacements.

Iowa has struggled to produce replacements

When Middleton supported his injuryit appeared the Wild would have to call up a player from the AHL to fill his spot. Just the team exchanged for David Jiricek and has spent significant resources building up their defensive assets in recent years.

That expectation changed when Michael Russo reported that Minnesota didn't feel prospects Carson Lambos and Ryan ORourke were ready for NHL action. Minnesota instead claimed veteran defenseman Travis Dermott off waivers to address their blue line needs.

With all due respect to Travis Dermott, who has built a solid career, that is not the case logged in an expected on-ice goal percentage above 50% or a Corsi-for rating above 50% since 2021. In all likelihood, he is a replacement-level player who the Wild felt was a better option than anyone else in the system.

The Iowas battle has been on the radar for a while, but the Wilds' injuries only add to the spotlight. Rossi is the only skater on the Wilds roster to have played more than 50 games at Iowa. All the others developed in other leagues such as the NCAA, KHL, Swedish Elite League or elsewhere.

It's not that Iowa doesn't have talent. Minnesota has a reputation for attracting high-level talent. In athletics fan surveyNHL fans ranked the Wild as the sixth-best team in drafting and development, while Wild fans ranked them 12th.

In this case, the design part of this equation does the heavy lifting. The Wild have assembled some great young players, but only a few are going through Iowa. As mentioned, Rossi spent time in the AHL, but there are many more examples of prospects going through Iowa and not being prepared for the NHL. The team has already gotten very little benefit from prospects like Adam Beckman and Calen Addison, who looked like potential impact players.

Few top players in the NHL spend significant time in the AHL. It may be unreasonable to expect Iowa to produce NHL regulars from late-round picks. However, the Wild don't have anyone ready to play even a few games in case of injury, which is concerning.

Reinforcements needed

The lack of NHL-ready prospects in Iowa has become a problem. While players get injured every season, this is far from the first time Minnesota has had to deal with a large number of players missing time. Injuries to key players like Jared Spurgeon sunk the Wild last year. Minnesota's injury problems have been a recurring storyline back to 2011. The need for high-quality reinforcements should not surprise the team.

Yet the Wilders are not confident that they can rely on prospects like ORourke and Lambos. Instead, they've used a patchwork of players from lower drafts to fill the gaps. Recently, players like Ben Jones, Travis Boyd, Travis Dermott and Devin Shore have played minutes for the Wild. All of these players also played for Iowa this season.

However, I am concerned about the players the Wild have drafted and developed in the system. For example, Travis Boyd may be playing at Iowa, but he has played over 250 NHL games. Those talents are not players that Minnesota drafted and developed. They are the proverbial band-aid on a series of injuries that threaten to turn into a gunshot wound.

All of the players mentioned did an excellent job in their limited action. However, the Wild would be much better off if they were given ice time for their prospects. Minnesota has devoted significant resources to building a strong prospect drafting infrastructure under Judd Brackett, and has been relatively successful. Why use these resources if they can't be assured that prospects can rise through the ranks in Iowa?

Lack of development could hurt Wild in the future

The Wilds problems with development prospects are hurting them, but will be even more worrying going forward. Waivers and short-term deals with veterans can be fruitful, but Minnesota will always need to replace them. If a player like Travis Dermott is successful, the Wild will have to pay him or let him go. Should they have more injury problems, the Wild will find themselves back in the same situation.

Instead, it would be much more valuable to have young players with contract control and experience in the organization. Restricted free agency gives teams more control and allows them to retain players or acquire assets before they leave.

The Wild have created a core group of players, but they will always need valuable depth players. One narrative surrounding team roster construction is that veteran contracts keep the team's prospects from getting time in the NHL. That is true in some cases. But even if spots open up due to injuries, Iowa won't have anyone ready to step up.

Again, the Iowa Wild don't need to produce players who play hundreds of games in the NHL. That would be an unrealistic expectation, and most of the Wilds' top players complete their development in other professional leagues or make an immediate impact in the NHL. What is the job of a development team if not to prepare the prospects to be somewhat ready to play in the league?

The recent rash of injuries to the Wild proves that Iowa is seriously behind in terms of development, as the team doesn't feel like anyone in the AHL wants to play even a few games to fill in for injuries. If Minnesota can't figure out a better system to develop their prospects, then it won't matter how well they draft. If players like Carson Lambos and Ryan ORourke aren't ready to fill in for injuries, the Wilds risk a mad scramble every time players miss games.