Wild sign two more college free agents to entry-level contracts
With the college season ending, NHL teams are adding young talent and the Minnesota Wild signed two more college free agents to entry-level contracts.
Minnesota signed University of Vermont goaltender Brody Hoffman and Minnesota State defenseman Zach Palmquist to entry-level deals that will begin with the 2015-16 season. Palmquist, who played at South St. Paul High School, will report to the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League to finish the season on an amateur tryout agreement.
Last week, Minnesota signed forward Grayson Downing from the University of New Hampshire. The Wild have four players who were college free agents at one time: forwards Ryan Carter and Justin Fontaine, and defensemen Nate Prosser and Christian Folin.
Hoffman, 24, went 13-6-2 with a 2.06 goals-against average and .922 save percentage as a junior in 22 games for Vermont this season. He added one shutout and was second in the Hockey East conference and 18th in the NCAA in goals-against average. A 6-foot-4, 205-pound netminder, Hoffman went 34-33-9, with a 2.45 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in three seasons at Vermont.
Palmquist, 24, had eight goals and 21 assists in 40 games for Minnesota State. He was fourth on the Mavericks in scoring and added four power-play goals while serving as an alternate captain.
Palmquist didn't miss a game during his four seasons at Minnesota State, setting a school record with 160 straight games. He had 25 goals, 71 assists and 109 penalty minutes in his four years. Palmquist was an All-WCHA first-team player the past two seasons.
A finalist for the Minnesota Mr. Hockey award as a senior at South St. Paul, Palmquist also played three seasons with Waterloo in the United States Hockey League.
Dubnyk named first star: Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk was named the NHL's first star of the week on Monday after going 4-0-0 with a 1.22 goals-against average and .962 save percentage. Dubnyk is the first player in team history to be named to the NHL's three stars of the week three times in one season.
Dubnyk started every game last week, extending his club record to 34 games, while playing both ends of a pair of back-to-backs. Minnesota won back-to-back road games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders and then returned home to sweep back-to-back games against the Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings.
Dubnyk has won a career-high 35 games this season and is second in the NHL with a 2.05 goals-against average and .930 save percentage.
Folin recalled after one game: The Wild recalled defenseman Christian Folin from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League on Monday. Folin, who had been a healthy scratch for four straight games with Minnesota, was reassigned to Iowa following Saturday's game against Los Angeles. Folin was a plus-1 with one shot on goal in a game for Iowa on Sunday.
Folin, 24, has two goals and eight assists in his first full season with Minnesota. He is a plus-4 and has 11 penalty minutes in 39 games, but had been a healthy scratch in eight of the past 10 games.
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