The Minnesota Wild are nearing a completely healthy roster. Minnesota announced that they’ve activated veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian from the injured reserve and reassigned forward Ben Jones in a corresponding roster move.
Bogosian, 35, has the opportunity to play in his first contest since the middle of December. The 18-year veteran has been nursing a lower-body ailment since the Wild’s game against the Boston Bruins on December 14th.
Bogosian is in his third year with Minnesota after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning partway through the 2023-24 campaign. He’s been fairly limited in his usage throughout his time with the Wild, scoring eight goals and 32 points in 159 games while averaging 16:40 of ice time.
Becoming an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, there’s a legitimate chance that the 2025-26 campaign will be Bogosian’s last in the NHL. He’s still managing fairly high defensive metrics and would be useful to a few teams as a bottom-pairing right-handed shot. Still, his foot speed ranks below the 50th percentile according to NHL EDGE as ’Father Time’ remains undefeated.
Regardless, Bogosian’s activation means the Wild have effectively ended some murky injury troubles. Only three days ago, Minnesota activated four players off the injured reserve, with Bogosian’s placement being one of the corresponding roster moves. Now, depth blue liner Daemon Hunt is the only one that remains.
Meanwhile, Jones returns to AHL Iowa without playing in any games for the Wild during his current recall. Still, he’s appeared in 20 games for Minnesota already this season, going scoreless with a -6 rating while averaging 8:41 of action.