Tonight the Wild begin a 4-game Western road trip beginning in Edmonton. It will be another matchup of top scorers as Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid faceoff against Kirill Kaprizov and the Wild.
Edmonton is 16-7-0 and sitting in second place in the Pacific Division, but have dropped their last two in Seattle 4-3 on Criday and then a 5-1 loss at home Sunday, to Los Angeles. In Sunday's game Connor McDavid was assessed a 5-minute major for his questionable hit on Adrian Kempe in the third period. No further action was taken by the NHL and Kempe returned to the game and scored on the powerplay that resulted from the hit.
Mason Shaw got the call that he would be joining the Wild on the trip to Edmonton. It has been a long road for the Wild's fourth round draft choice from 2017. He has had two torn ACL injuries, one to each knee, since being drafted by the Wild.
You may recall that 2017 draft, the Wild did not have a pick until late in the third round (Ivan Lodnia pock #85) and then early in the fourth round (pick #97) they former Wild GM, Chuck Fletcher selected Mason Shae. The strategy behind that draft was to select the best skill players on the board regardless of size, given the lack of picks in rounds 1 and 2.
Shaw fit the bill perfectly as far as skill is concerned coming off a 94 point season in the Western Hockey League, with the Medicine Hat Tigers the previous season. He reported to Wild rookie camp in 2017 and was unfortunately injured in the Traverse Rookie Tournament, where he suffered his second torn ACL, and first since being drafted by the Wild.
Shaw rehabbed all season and made his pro debut playing one game for the Iowa Wild in the 2018 AHL playoffs. Shaw suffered his next injury another torn ACL to the other knee this time, during his second full season in the AHL.
The odds were already stacked against the 5'8", 180 lb center, but throw in those catastrophic injuries qnd the extended missed development time, to see Shaw get the call is simply inspiring. Shaw is second on the Iowa Wild in scoring with 14 points in 18 games and if he does make his NHL debut it will be in front of many friends and family as he is from Wainwright Alberta, a two hour drive from Edmonton.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!