Bill Guerin on Jake Middleton’s injury, Travis Dermott’s addition and where the Wild go from here

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Travis Dermott watched Thursday night’s Edmonton Oilers blowout of the Minnesota Wild from the Xcel Energy Center, then hopped on the Oilers charter and landed in Alberta’s capital at 01:30 MT.

At noon MT Friday, Dermott was claimed off waivers by the Wild. In less than an hour, Dermott frantically packed and was in a car heading back to Edmonton’s airport to fly to Denver first and then another that would land him back in the Twin Cities just before midnight Friday night.

At 1 p.m. Saturday, exactly 24 hours after the Wild plucked him from the Oilers, Dermott is expected to play his first game in a month as the Wild try to avoid a regulation loss for the first time this season when they drop the puck against the Philadelphia Flyers.

But that’s how desperate the Wild were for a left-handed defenseman.

Daemon Hunt is now playing in Cleveland after being traded to Columbus last month for right-handed defenseman David Jiricek, and the Wild’s injury to Jonas Brodin combined with Jake Middleton suddenly being sidelined long-term for what league sources said was surgery Friday. ​on at least one broken finger, the Wild were put in a position where they needed an NHL body that could play the left side.

In fortunate timing, Dermott was placed on waivers Thursday by Edmonton after playing just 10 games this season and none since Nov. 19. After getting the X-ray results for Middleton, Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin gave Oilers GM Stan Bowman a heads-up that he might have to claim Dermott.

The Wild were 31st^St on the waiver priority list, so the team was actually on pins and needles Friday that they would nab Dermott knowing there were other teams, like the New York Rangers, who might need a left-handed D.

“Jake has played incredibly well and he’s a big part of the team,” Guerin said Friday. “And yes, it’s disappointing. But it’s part of the game and you have to do certain things to cover for guys. It’s not a season-long injury, but it’s going to be significant time. And yes, it’s disappointing. But we brought Travis in today and he’s going to help. And he’s been a good player in the league for a long time now. He’s got over 300 games in the league and he’s going to help.”

He will have to shake off the rust quickly. The Wild’s left-shooting defensemen alongside Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon and Zach Bogosian are suddenly Dermott, Declan Chisholm and Jon Merrill.

Guerin told it Athletics that first round pick Carson Lambos is playing much better in Iowa and his NHL debut might not be that far off.

But to say the depth is strained is an understatement.

The good news is that wild hope Brodin, who has missed eight games with an upper body injury, is on the way back.

The Wild would not yet declare Brodin ready to return against the Flyers. In fact, considering the Wild game at 5 p.m. Sunday against Vegas, it’s unlikely the Wild will have Brodin back for back-to-back games. So if he is indeed going to return this weekend, Sunday’s game makes the most sense.

“I’ve been watching him play since he was in Junior,” Guerin said of Dermott. “He brings good energy. He can skate well, he can move pucks. We really like him. (Assistant coach) Jason King had him for a short time (in Vancouver). I think he’ll adjust the way we play on.

“I think he’s just a good skater and puck mover, been in the league long enough where he can adjust quickly. He’s played in several different systems and stuff. So I think he’ll be able to pick it up and just help us that way.”

Middleton was placed on long-term injured reserve. That means he will miss 10 games and 24 days, whichever is longer. With 10 games from now less than 24 days away, Middleton is the fastest eligible to return in 12 games from now, Jan. 7 against St. Louis.

However, it sounds like Guerin expects him to be out longer.

“I don’t think it will be (February or March),” he said, before adding sarcastically: “I have to go back in my doctor’s notes. Look at the history of these types of things. I’m not even going to guess. That’s enough week to week. I would guess so.”

Here’s Jake Middleton’s injury. His night ended 37 seconds into his first shift. Beaten on the hand by one of the NHL’s toughest shooters pic.twitter.com/CmLT5RdQQ3

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) 13 December 2024

It’s amazing how injuries pile up with Brodin, Mats Zuccarello, Joel Eriksson Ek and now Middleton.

These are all important players playing important roles, and sometimes timing is everything. It wasn’t a good night to play the Oilers when you’re without your best control center and most mobile defender and then Middleton loses a shift in the game.

But like Brodin, Zuccarello, who has also been on LTIR, is close to returning — perhaps as soon as Saturday’s game against the Flyers.

“Listen, it’s not a great place,” Guerin said. “It’s kind of funny, the last couple of years it seems like it hasn’t been one injury, get a guy back, another injury. It’s like everything at once. It’s not great, but hopefully we’ll get guys back in the near future and they can start helping and we’ll just move on.”

Fortunately for the Wild, they have put a lot of points in the bank – the second most in the West. However, Middleton, who leads the NHL with a plus-22, is a huge loss. He leads the Wild’s defensemen with five goals, is second with 13 points and may be the biggest character in the locker room, so his loss will be felt in more areas than the ice.

“Look, there’s nothing we can do,” Guerin said. “I can be as worried as I want, it doesn’t change anything. … I can’t control it, the players can’t control it, the coaches can’t. The only thing we can control is our attitude, how we prepare for matches, our confidence and you know what, we go out and try to win matches. That’s it. There is nothing else we can do. I just don’t like to see our players get hurt.”

The unfortunate part about the Wild being stuck in LTIR is that it stops the ability to accumulate cap space for a potential trade deadline addition and could cause a cap overrun that will lower the Wild’s cap space next season, especially with Faber and Marco Rossi on pace to hit performance bonuses.

Asked if he thinks this will hurt his trade deadline plans to possibly add a top-six forward, Guerin said, “Yeah, I mean, it probably will. And again, it’s just one of those We can’t control it. We’ve done our best to build cap space. But we can’t necessarily control it all the time. We’ll see what we can do a few months away, so we’ll see.”

(Photo by Jake Middleton: Matt Blewett/Imagn Images)