The Wild have decided to give forward Ryan Carter a chance to reclaim his roster spot from last season by signing him to a professional tryout. While not surprising that Carter will get chance, can he actually make it back to the Wild lineup?
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The Minnesota Wild announced Friday morning that they would be signing White Bear Lake’s favorite hockey son forward Ryan Carter to a PTO paving the way for him to earn a spot on the team in training camp. Carter has spent the last two seasons in Minnesota and has been a fourth line staple with big minutes on the penalty kill as well.
Signing a PTO was a move that was thought to be a foregone conclusion, I think the only issue was who it was going to be. Carter is certainly on the list of guys from last year’s squad who deserve to be brought in for a chance to come back. He was a solid penalty killer, and being a local seemed to have stepped his game up since he put on a Wild sweater. Last season was a career year for him in goals with 7, and he could see a few more goals on the scoresheet playing under Boudreau and with Chris Stewart on the fourth line.
This by no means insures that Carter will be on the Wild roster next season. Actually he might be seen as an insurance policy by the club in case one of the earmarked prospects cannot perform well enough to make the team. Still though even if he can’t crack that starting lineup I have to believe that a spot as a depth forward is warranted for Carter. The NHL ready already up with the club aspect he could bring makes him a very attractive stand-in for injuries or lineup shakeups.
Carter will more than likely not be the only player brought in on a PTO. Reading the tea leaves and sizing up the roster, you’ve got think that they need at least one more PTO in camp. With so many spots open on the roster, the thought that all the Wild’s current in house options would fill the bill is hard to wrap your mind around. Not to mention this does not take into account injuries and what they can do. If the Wild don’t have enough solid up and down guys on the roster, you could see players playing much higher in the lineup than they are able to fill a hole.
While Carter may not actually make the team, this a solid move the Wild needed to make. They know what they can get performance wise out of Carter, so he can plug easily. At the same time if one of the younger players is better than him they can have the roster spot he’s competing for and there’s no penalty or risk. Still my last thought here is that Carter will make the team if he performs even if it is simply to fill out the roster depth. It’s really up to Ryan at this point…in my opinion.
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