Minnesota Wild shake up roster, Liam Ohgren sent down

In a flurry of afternoon roster moves, the MN Wild recalled defenseman David Jiricek and forward Tyler Pitlick from AHL Iowa. The former will replace the injured Zach Bogosian; the latter will take the spot of Liam Ohgren, who was sent down to the AHL Wild amid Saturday’s reshuffling.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has recalled defenseman David Jiříček (YIHR-ih-chehk) and forward Tyler Pitlick from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL) and assigned forward Liam Öhgren (OH-gren) to Iowa.

Minnesota Wild Press Release – 3:00 PM, October 18, 2025

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Prior to his demotion, Liam Ohgren played in all five of Minnesota’s games this season, averaging 09:10 time on ice. Unfortunately, his early season production (0 goals, 0 assists, -4 +/-) was not what Wild coaches and executives were hoping for from the 21-year-old.

After Ohgren played as well as he did during camp, and off a 2024-25 down in Iowa in which he scored 19 goals (37 points) in just 41 games, the talented young Swed was supposed to be taking the next step in his development and helping to provide an offensive punch on the fourth line that most NHL teams do not have.

Ohgren scores immediately for Iowa Wild

So, Guerin sent him down to Iowa to hopefully get right. And if scoring seven minutes into your first game back in the AHL isn’t the start of something good… then I don’t know what is. But that’s exactly what Liam Ohgren did for the Minnesota Wild affiliate on Saturday night.

Yep, he's back! 🎯 #WildTerritory pic.twitter.com/JqvKdRLAxo

— Iowa Wild (@IAWild) October 18, 2025

Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov are back on the ice, after both top forwards missed more than a month with lower body injuries. On defense, Jake Middleton and Jared Spurgeon are both expected to be active, after late-season injury scares of their own.

But not only are the Minnesota Wild fully healthy, on paper, but the blue line seems likely to get a major skill upgrade, as well. Former University of Denver superstar Zeev Buium — the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and current No. 2 overall prospect in all of hockey (The Athletic) — has been practicing with the team for a few days… and he’s been reportedly running the Wild’s top power play unit.

Minnesota Wild recall top goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt

Zeev isn’t the only top prospect traveling with the team to Vegas this weekend. On Friday, the MN Wild called up another valuable youngster, this time from Iowa, goalie Jesper Wallstedt, who will be the team’s emergency net-minder for round one.

#mnwild have recalled Jesper Wallstedt to be third goalie in playoffs

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 18, 2025

Jesper Wallstedt has had a very difficult year of professional hockey. The Minnesota Wild entered the season with a three-goalie rotation between Filip Gustavsson, Marc-Andre Fleury and Wallstedt. Within just a week or two, however, Gustavsson had cemented himself as the clear No. 1, ahead of both the HOFer and top prospect.

That put President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin in a pickle. Wallstedt needed reps in net and it was looking increasingly obvious that those opportunities were going to be few and far between in the NHL.

Tough year for Wild’s top goalie prospect

So, Billy made the only logical move and sent Jesper Wallstedt down to Iowa. Unfortunately, that is not where the 22-year-old wanted to be… and his play showed it. Wallstedt — who has been up and down from Iowa a couple times since his early-season demotion — allowed four or more goals in four of his first seven AHL games (starting Nov. 7), including a brutal 8 goals allowed showing Nov. 16 vs the Texas Stars.

Related: Minnesota Wild Goalie Prospect Takes Tumble Down Prospect Rankings

When the dust settled on his 2024-25 season, Jesper Wallstedt played 27 AHL games, posting a career-worst 3.59 GAA and .879 save percentage. Thankfully, the season eventually ended. Now, he gets to hang out with Gus and Flower, while he tries to regain his confidence going into a crucial offseason.

JESPER WALLSTEDT WENT FULL MARC ANDRE FLEURY pic.twitter.com/xOyvo51qtn

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 14, 2023

Going forward, the Minnesota Wild hope and pray that this awful year for the NHL’s former No. 1 goalie prospect was just a speed bump in the road to what previously looked like an incredibly bright future.

But that also means that the Wild are down some key talent back in St. Paul, as the squad ramps back up for the restart of the 2024 NHL season on Saturday, when Minnesota will play in Detroit vs the Red Wings.

Minnesota Wild recall prospects while stars finish up 4 Nations

To fill the voids left on Minnesota’s roster by Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy, Brock Faber and Filip Gustavsson while they finish up and return from the 4-Nations tourney, the Wild have recalled multiple players from Iowa.

Related: Team USA Trying to Ride Brock Faber to 4 Nations Title

The call ups include Liam Ohgren, Devin Shore and goaltender Dylan Ferguson, the latter of which was recalled as a practice player only, under a special rule this season created to compensate for absences of NHL players this week, because of the ongoing 4 Nations Face-Off.

[The Minnesota Wild have] recalled forwards Liam Öhgren and Devin Shore from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL). Minnesota has also recalled goaltender Dylan Ferguson from Iowa as a practice player as allowed under NHL 4 Nations Face-Off rules.

Minnesota Wild Press Release

How long will Liam Ohgren and Devin Shore be on the Wild’s roster?

It is unclear how long any of these call ups will remain on the Minnesota Wild roster, but it is worth noting that should the Wild activate Jacob Lauko from injured reserve, a move that is expected to happen before the end of the day according to Michael Russo (The Athletic), then one of either Ohgren or Shore would have to go back to Iowa or be placed on waivers.

#mnwild have recalled Liam Ohgren and Devin Shore. If Jakub Lauko comes off IR, one will either have to go back to Iowa or somebody would have to be put on waivers. Can’t see the Wild carrying 8 D (Travis Dermott) for too much longer with suspended Ryan Hartman occupying a roster…

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 18, 2025

Ohgren, Minnesota’s 1st round pick (No. 19 overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft, has played 19 games this season with the big league Wild, recorded 1 goal and 3 assists on 25 shots. In 25 games with Iowa in 2024-25, the freshly-turned 21-year-old has potted 12 goals and assisted on 11 more (23 points). Four of his goals for Iowa have come on the power-play.

Devin Shore is a 30-year-old centerman brought in by the Minnesota Wild this season to fill the role of a veteran who has been a few places and is ok with popping between the AHL and NHL, depending on who needs him the most.

Related: MN Wild Top Pick Just Misses No. 1 Spot in NHL Prospect Rankings

Most importantly, Shore can show the NHL ropes to the swath of young talent coming through the Wild’s No. 2 ranked system in all of hockey. In 2024-25, he has 1 goal and 2 assists in 34 games with the NHL Wild. Down in Iowa, he has 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists), five PPA in 14 games. 

Jesper Wallstedt: Minnesota Wild Goalie of the Future

At 19 years old (July 2022), Wallstedt was named the No. 1 overall goalie prospect in the world by The Athletic and his takeover as the Minnesota Wild’s starting netminder is only a matter of time, no matter how well Filip Gustavsson played this season or next.

A beautiful save by Jesper Wallstedt on Rocco Grimaldi keeps this game tied. You have a good one over there @mnwprospects! #IceHogs #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/9PdLJ1rn62

— Chicago Prospects (@Chi_Prospects) April 20, 2023

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But now, the Gus Bus is hurt and won’t be returning anytime soon. Obviously, Bill Guerin and his new head coach, John Hynes, do not expect or want Marc-Andre Fleury in net for all of the Wild’s games in his absence. So, questions have risen surrounding whether or not we could see Wallstedt in St. Paul earlier than expected.

Wallstedt’s NHL Debut Drawing Near

And it sounds like the answer to that question is yes. In fact, it seems like Jesper’s recent injury issues are the only thing keeping him in the AHL, as of Saturday morning. Wallstedt returned from his injury last night and did not play particularly well. Still, it doesn’t seem like Minnesota decision makers are overly concerned.

Michael Russo (The Athletic) tweeted on Saturday that it “Sure feels like Wallstedt’s NHL debut is closing in”.

Jesper Wallstedt returned last night for Iowa and gave up four goals on 23 shots. He’ll play again tonight and then the #mnwild will assess where Wallstedt is and Gustavsson’s health. Sure feels like Wallstedt’s NHL debut is closing in

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) January 6, 2024

Even after a difficult return to action last night, Jesper Wallstedt’s numbers tell the story about how good the kid is and why the Minnesota Wild organization is so excited about him. In 19 appearances this season, the 21-year-old goalie is touting a .918 save percentage and 2.52 goals against average, both good for 3rd best in the AHL among goalies who have started 18 or more games.

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Both are improvements over his already impressive AHL start in 2022-23, where he allowed 2.68 goals per game and touted a .908 save percentage, which both hover around top-10 in the league among AHL goalies with 35 or more games played last season.