Wild place Vinni Lettieri on waivers

The Minnesota Wild have waived centerman Vinni Lettieri. Lettieri has played in 11 games with the club this season, scoring two goals and recording four penalty minutes. He’s managed these totals while averaging 11 minutes of ice time each night and operating as the Wild’s top faceoff option, with a 58 percent win rate on draws.

Interestingly, Lettieri was presently serving as the team’s extra forward and was joined in the press box by extra defenseman Dakota Mermis. Mermis cleared waivers on Nov. 18. Despite that, Mermis remains with the NHL club. Whether Lettieri will also hold onto his NHL roster spot is yet to be seen, although the Wild do have forwards like Nic Petan, Jujhar Khaira, and Jake Lucchini performing well in the minor leagues.

Lettieri is in his first year with the Wild organization, after spending the 2022-23 season with the Boston Bruins’ AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. The Wild are the fourth franchise that Lettieri has been a part of, originally signing as an undrafted free agent with the New York Rangers following the end of the University of Minnesota’s 2017-18 season. Now 28 years old, Lettieri has totaled 94 career NHL games and scored 20 points. He’s also managed 271 career games and scored 232 points in the minor leagues.

The Wild have had a surprisingly slow start to the season, currently sitting with a 5-8-4 record. They rank second-to-last in the Central Division, largely on the back of an offense with the seventh-fewest goals this season. Lettieri’s waiving doesn’t offer a major change to the lineup, but it could take pressure off of centermen like Frédérick Gaudreau, who is slotting back into the lineup after recently returning from injury.