The Minnesota Wild inked Harvard goaltender and former sixth round draft pick Steve Michalek to an entry-level deal once he graduated out of the NCAA system this summer, but he’s spent his first year thus far in the ECHL and the AHL.
That will change, though, with his Friday afternoon recall to the NHL by the Wild.
Michalek, who played for Harvard for three seasons due to the Harvard academic scandal in 2012, finished his final year with the ECAC collegiate organization with a 21-13-3 record, boasting a .924 save percentage in all situations and a 2.28 goals against average. Since going pro, he’s played in 24 ECHL games for the Quad City Mallards – recording a .924 save percentage there as well – and nine games for the AHL’s Iowa Wild, going 6-3-0 and posting a .919 save percentage.
He’s been recalled to replace Wild backup Darcy Kuemper, who was injured when he went in for a pulled Devan Dubnyk on Thursday night and is currently considered day to day with an upper body injury.
The Wild will next play tomorrow afternoon, when they face the Carolina Hurricanes at 1:00 PM CST at home in Minnesota. They’ll look to come back from a tough 7-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils last night, as they fight to push into one of the two Wild Card spots in the Western Conference.
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