Sammy Walker leaves MN Wild in trade with Utah

Injuries and ineffectiveness at home have really been the only two things to stop the Minnesota Wild this season. John Hynes has needed to cycle through talent at the Xcel Energy Center, but he hasn’t called upon former Minnesota Gopher Sammy Walker this season. Now he won’t be able to.

#mnwild trade former Gophers captain Sammy Walker to Utah for future considerations. Hopefully gives Sammy a new lease on life.

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 3, 2025

The former Gophers captain from Edina played in four games last season, and nine the year before. This year he had yet to earn a trip to the NHL from Iowa. In 30 games for Iowa, Walker scored just two goals with nine assists. He was trending towards his worst season with the franchise.

Across his 13 Minnesota Wild games, Walker posted two points with a goal and an assist each. He’ll now get a fresh start to carve out some playing time with the upstart Utah Hockey Club.

Related: Kirill Kaprizov Injury Probably Helps MN Wild in Contract Talk

Clearly the Wild were motivated to make the move with no real avenue for Walker to compete. Despite the local connection, he had struggled to substantiate himself this season. Utah parted with no real assets to grab him. As future considerations were the only return for this trade.

Minnesota probably isn’t done making deals this season, but the hope would be that general manager Bill Guerin can find a way to impact the NHL roster. The salary cap grows, and the Wild escape bad contracts in the years ahead.

Minnesota Wild call up hometown forward, Sammy Walker

The move allowed the Wild to call up Edina native and former Gopher, (C) Sammy Walker, from Iowa, whose contract ($775K) was too large to fit underneath the team’s salary cap, prior to Goligoski’s LTIR designation.

#mnwild have recalled Sammy Walker and placed Alex Goligoski on LTIR. Gives Wild some roster flexibility

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 18, 2023

The 24-year-old Minnesotan was all but forced to stay in Iowa, even after leading the Minnesota Wild in preseason points. Bill Guerin had no other option and everyone knew it, including Walker.

Related: Minnesota Wild Name Kirill Kaprizov Alternate Captain

Last season, Sammy Walker collected 48 points (27 goals, 21 assists) in 56 games with the Iowa Wild. He also tacked on one goal and one assist for the big league Wild, in 9 games worth of NHL experience. With Matt Boldy out weeks, due to his own upper body injury, this is a chance Walker has never really gotten.

Sammy Walker with the hat trick in the prospects tourney #mnwild pic.twitter.com/hQgnHPHNsX

— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) September 17, 2023

Let’s see if he takes advantage. His first game as a 2023-24 Minnesota Wild forward will be Thursday night, at home, vs the LA Kings.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan