Wild Roster Crunch Could Squeeze Out More Familiar Names Next

As roster shifts occur with key players returning from injury, the Minnesota Wild have placed Cameron Crotty and Tyler Pitlick on waivers, signaling strategic changes to their lineup depth.

The Minnesota Wild are trimming the edges of their roster as injured players start to come back, and that means Cameron Crotty and Tyler Pitlick are both headed to waivers.

Minnesota announced the moves on Friday, sending the defenseman and the veteran forward onto the waiver wire as the club makes room for reinforcements.

For Crotty, this is déjà vu. He was placed on waivers by the Ottawa Senators on October 28th, then claimed by Minnesota the next day. If Ottawa is the only team to submit a claim this time, the Senators would be able to send him to the AHL’s Belleville Senators without needing waivers.

Crotty never got into a game for Minnesota during this latest stint. His only three appearances this season came with Ottawa, where he averaged 11:09 of ice time and didn’t record a point. During his first run with the Wild in the 2024-25 season, he also went scoreless in one appearance.

Pitlick saw a much bigger sample with Minnesota, but the production still didn’t show up on the scoresheet. The 12-year veteran played 12 games for the Wild, finished with a net-zero rating, and averaged 7:39 of ice time per game. He also chipped in 12 blocked shots and 32 hits.

Pitlick has also been through waivers before this season. Minnesota put him there before opening night after he didn’t make the roster, and because he appeared in more than 10 games for the Wild, he became eligible for waivers again.

Even with Crotty and Pitlick losing their spots for now, the bigger picture is positive for Minnesota. The Wild already brought Marcus Foligno and Nick Foligno back from injured reserve a few days ago, and they’re expected to activate defensemen Brock Faber and Jared Spurgeon within the next few days.

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