MONTREAL — The Wild’s early injury issues got so bad on Tuesday that they got a little bit better.
Because veteran defenseman Alex Goligoski joined Jared Spurgeon and Matt Boldy as players sidelined by injuries, the Wild will play tonight’s 6 p.m. puck drop against the Canadiens short-handed, with just 11 forwards.
That’s because after calling defenseman Dakota Mermis up from Iowa before this trip, the Wild had roughly $51,000 of cap space on Tuesday. The good news is that on Wednesday — a day after playing shorthanded — the Wild will be able to call up a forward and, under the NHL’s emergency rules, not have it count against the salary cap.
Furthermore, the Wild can pay that player $100,000 over the league minimum of $775,000, and it must be a forward — the position the Wild will be short on Tuesday at Bell Centre.
“It is what it is. We’ve got to deal with it. We’re not the only team in the league that’s doing it,” head coach Dean Evason said. “We’ve talked about this before; the cap situation is not the coaches’ responsibility, so we will coach the team that we have here tonight.”
The extra 100 grand means the Wild won’t be limited to recalling one of the three forwards on minimum contracts for Thursday night’s 7 p.m. start against the Los Angeles Kings at Xcel Energy Center, which is good news for Sammy Walker, a wing with an $855,000 cap hit who made his NHL debut last season and had a very good training camp.
Walker had four points in three preseason games, three of them goals. But so did veteran journeyman Vinni Lettieri — one goal and three assists. Juhjar Khaira, a 6-foot-4 left wing/center who has played 336 NHL games, had two goals in three preseason games.
Practice injury
Evason said Goligoski suffered a lower body injury during practice on Monday and that the severity wasn’t completely clear on Tuesday. “We’ll re-evaluate tomorrow and should have a better idea,” Evason said.
Spurgeon, the team captain, has been out with an upper body injury since being checked into the boards in a preseason game at Chicago Oct. 5. He is considered week to week but Evason said he didn’t think he had started to skate as of Tuesday.
Boldy, who scored 32 goals last season, suffered an upper body injury after taking a hit from Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly in a 7-4 loss in Toronto last Saturday. He also is week to week.
The Wild initially planned to play with seven defensemen on Tuesday, perhaps even occasionally playing one in Boldy’s spot. That’s no longer an option, and while Kirill Kaprizov figured to get most of the extra shifts, but, Evason added, “You’ve gotta be careful not to exhaust him early.”
“It’s next man up and you’ve gotta play, no excuses,” alternate captain Marcus Foligno said. “Everybody has to play their best. We have to work with what we have.”
Mermis in
Khaira, Lettieri and Mermis were among the last players cut from camp this month and were part of the Wild’s team bonding trip to Two Harbors before the team cut down to the NHL roster for the final two games of the preseason.
Mermis, 29, was set to make his season debut against the Canadiens. He was set to play with Jon Merrill.
“Yesterday we got some reps. We’ve had some reps over the course of the last three, four years,” he said. “We’ll be good together.”
Mermis has played 27 career NHL games, the past seven with the Wild. He has played 123 games in two seasons with Iowa, amassing eight goals, 42 assists and 169 penalty minutes.
“He’s a veteran guy that’s played with us, he knows us and our system, so it will be seamless for him to come in and play,” Evason said. “He’s a gritty guy that plays hard, he’s got good speed. He’s got an offensive side to him, as well.”
Briefly
The Wild will hold an open, outdoor practice Nov. 5 at the Recreation Outdoor Center in St. Louis Park. It’s scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and expected to last about 45 minutes.
