ST. PAUL -- None of the cuts the Minnesota Wild made Wednesday morning were very surprising.
They sent wingers Adam Beckman, Mitchell Chaffee, and Nick Swaney to the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League, along with defenseman Ryan O’Rourke. They also waived winger Brandon Baddock and goaltender Zane McIntyre with hopes of getting both players to the minors.
The only notable move the Wild made was assigning defenseman Carson Lambos to the Winnipeg Ice of the Western Hockey League. Though it was pretty much a guarantee that Lambos, 19, would be cut at some point before the Oct. 13 season opener, the fact he stuck around so long spoke to how impressive he was in training camp.
“You take every day as it comes,” Lambos said. “I keep trying not to read into things and say, ‘OK. I’m playing this game.’ Just try to block that stuff out and play as good as I can.”
That mentality has served Lambos well over the past couple of weeks. He turned some heads with his smooth skating on the blue line as well as his ability to play responsibly in his own end. Asked about Lambos on Tuesday, Wild coach Dean Evason confirmed that Lambos got another preseason game because of his stellar play over the past couple of weeks.
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“It’s the balance of, ‘Do we get them back to their team so they can get up and running with them?’ or ‘Are they gaining valuable experience and development from being here and playing another game and being around our guys?’ ” Evason said. “It goes on an individual basis. For him, we’ve liked the way he’s progressed, and how aggressive he’s played, and how confidently he’s played.”
That confidence should follow Lambos as he embarks on what will likely be his final season of juniors. A first-round draft pick in 2021, Lambos could make his professional debut as soon as next season.
“Just having the ability to go back and play junior hockey with the knowledge that he’s held his own here extremely well playing in an NHL-caliber building and playing against NHL players,” Evason said. “He’ll go back and hopefully have a ton of confidence, which he should, and have a great season and hopefully get his pro career started.”
As for Lambos, while he’s no longer with the Wild, he was proud of the way he showed himself in training camp.
“It’s not like I’m dipping my toe in,” he said. “I’m trying to go all in and show them what I can do.”
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