Petersen allowed three goals on 29 shots in the Kings loss in St. Louis on Saturday. Petersen has lost each of his two starts this season while allowing six goals on 53 shots (.887 SV%) but it appears as if the Kings will trust him to take on a decent sized workload in the condensed season. Tonight he faces a Wild team that is 4-2-0, including two wins over the Kings to kick-off the season.
Petersen allowed three goals on 29 shots in the Kings loss in St. Louis on Saturday. Petersen has lost each of his two starts this season while allowing six goals on 53 shots (.887 SV%) but it appears as if the Kings will trust him to take on a decent sized workload in the condensed season. Tonight he faces a Wild team that is 4-2-0, including two wins over the Kings to kick-off the season.
Sturm has missed the last two games with an illness but will replace Brad Hunt in the lineup Tuesday vs. the Kings. Sturm, who will skate on the fourth line with Victor Rask and Ryan Hartman, has no points and nine shots on goal in four games this season.
Middleton sat out of the season opener but will make his season debut in the rematch on Saturday afternoon. Middleton, who had two assists in 10 games last year, will replace Nicolas Meloche and skate with Nikolai Knyzhov on the third pair.
Moving Tarasenko to LTIR opens up some cap space for the Blues to recall Jordan Kyrou and Mackenzie MacEachern from the taxi squad. Tarasenko continues to rehab his surgically repaired shoulder and is expected to be re-evaluated at the end of January.
Foligno has picked up 26 goals and 41 assists in 218 games over the last three seasons, including a career-high 25 points (11G / 14A) in 59 games a season ago. Foligno is often found among the hits leaders and has become a key part of the Wild's bottom-6. Look for him to open the 2021 season on the third-line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway.
Rossi's seven-day quarantine after arriving from the World Juniors has ended but the Wild unexpectedly announced that he is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury without ever practicing with the team. Rossi was expected to start the season with the Wild and play the maximum six games before decided whether to keep him on the roster or send him back to Zurich (Swiss-A). Expect the Wild to provide another update after Rossi undergoes further testing.
Last Friday, the Minnesota Wild announced that Zuccarello underwent right arm surgery in Norway and no timetable for his return has been established. Zuccarello broke his right arm in his first game with the Dallas Stars back in 2019 and he missed five weeks. With Zuccarello expected to miss some time to start the season, expect Jordan Greenway to be elevated into a top-6 role.
Rossi was the No.9 overall pick in the latest NHL Draft after leading the OHL with 120 points (39G / 81A) in 56 games with the Ottawa 67's. With the OHL season in limbo, Rossi will probably get a chance to make the Wild out of training camp but he will likely go to the OHL once their season gets underway.
The Coyotes did not tender the RFA, letting him hit the open market and signing on with the Panthers. The former sixth-round pick had a great debut season in Arizona, posting 39 points (16G / 23A) but struggled to just 22 points (5G / 17A) last season. Hinostroza is a good bounce-back candidate in Florida, where he'll be a middle-6 winger.
Baddock had six goals and nine assists (15 points) in 50 game with the Binghamton Devils (AHL). The 25-year-old is a former sixth-round pick (2014) who was signed to bolster Laval's blueline, not Montreal's.
After one season with the Flyers, Pitlick hit the open market, signing a two-year deal with the Coyotes. Pitlick provides very little offence but has good size (6-foot, 200 lbs) and fills an important role in the Coyotes' bottom-6. Pitlick led all Flyers' forwards with 132 hits while chipping in 20 points (8G / 12A) in 63 games.
Sturm spent most of his first professional season in the AHL, where he was fifth on Iowa with 32 points (12G / 20A) in 55 games. With Eric Staal traded to Buffalo, Ryan Donato traded to San Jose and both Mikko Koivu and Alex Galchenyuk expected to hit free agency, the door is wide open for Sturm to play in the NHL full-time in 2021.
