ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild's opening-night roster was set -- for a few hours, at least.
After getting down to the regular-season roster limit earlier Monday, Minnesota signed free agent forward Ryan Carter in the afternoon.
Carter, 31, was participating in the New Jersey Devils' training camp as a free agent and accepted the Wild's contract offer. Multiple reports say the deal is for $725,000 and is a two-way contract.
A White Bear Lake, Minn. native, Carter spent the past three seasons with New Jersey and had seven goals and three assists in 62 games last season. A seven-year veteran, Carter has 31 goals and 37 assists in 360 career NHL games. He has seven goals and five assists in 43 career playoff games in the NHL.
Carter, who played two seasons at the Minnesota State University-Mankato, has also played with the Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers in his career. Carter played on the 2011-12 New Jersey team that advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals with Wild forward Zach Parise.
Minnesota had waived forwards Cody Almond and Stephane Veilleux and released goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov from his professional tryout earlier Monday to reach the regular-season roster limit.
No corresponding move was needed to add Carter, because forward Justin Fontaine was placed on injured reserve earlier in the day with a lower-body injury.
The Wild open the season on Thursday at home against the Colorado Avalanche. Minnesota didn't have any extra forwards with Fontaine on injured reserve. The Wild kept forward Stu Bickel and eight defensemen on the roster, including rookies Matt Dumba and Christian Folin and veterans Keith Ballard and Nate Prosser.
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