The Wild roster was trimmed by five today as Matt Read, Kyle Rau, Mike Liambas, Matt Bartkowski, and Andrew Hammond were all placed on waivers.
If they clear by 11AM tomorrow they all will be assigned to Iowa.
Read played well enough to make the team, by all accounts. Bruce Boudreau liked his game throughout preseason, but in the end J.T. Brown and his one way contract won out.
Brown on the other hand left Boudreau wanting more from his game and believes he has more to give.
As expected Alex Stalock retained his backup role but the battle was much closer than many thought it would be. Andrew Hammond showed himself very well and should give the Wild more confidence in their organizational depth in goal.
The defense has not been settled as of yet with Gustav Olofsson, Ryan Murphy, and Nate Prosser all still in camp. It is thought that the Wild will keep only 7 defensemen so which two will go?
Olofsson is the only one of the three on a one way deal, so that does play into the decision. Prosser is the quintisential extra defenseman with his uncanny ability to play a rock solid game even, despite the fact that he may not have played for weeks at a time. Prosser is also a valuable teammate in the room and well liked.
Murphy brings some higher end skill with his skating ability and offensive game. He is also a smart player that understands how to use his smaller frame effectively to angle his opponents, putting him in better position to separate them from the puck.
According to the Athletic's Michael Russo, the Wild are shopping Olofsson, which of course is no secret. If they could get something of value in return for Olofsson it may just be time to turn that page.
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