Right now, the last defenseman spot is between John Scott and Jaime Sifers, and if Shane Hnidy’s not healthy by Opening Night, maybe Scott and Sifers both stick temporarily.
Same goes with the forwards. Right now, dinged up are Koivu, Brunette, Sheppard, Bouchard, Boogaard, Weller and Pouliot (that we know of). The Wild so far has kept Danny Irmen, Matt Kassian, Nathan Smith, Andy Hilbert and Robbie Earl. If the regular’s are not healthy Opening Night, maybe one or two of those guys remain (Irmen being the clearcut frontrunner there).
Earl, by the way, has been cleared to finally play and will get in probably Thursday against St. Louis or Friday in Chicago.
But the Wild is keeping so many extra bodies because of the amount of injuries. The team needs guys to play the back-to-backs coming up. Afterward, you can bet many of the forwards listed above will be sent down.
Make of that what you will. It's not likely that Earl will crack the Wild's lineup any time in the near future, but its good to know that he's probably close to the top of the Wild's call-up list.
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