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Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
Wild add goalie depth in Calvin Pickard, re-sign Zach Bogosian
- Story byPioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
- Wild add goalie depth in Calvin Pickard, re-sign Zach Bogosian
On a mostly quiet opening day of NHL free agency, the Minnesota Wild made a few depth additions, looking to give coach John Hynes some options when, inevitably, injuries happen in the 2026-27 season.
Most notable among them was veteran goaltender Calvin Pickard , who signed with the Wild on Wednesday. Pickard, 34, was most recently in Edmonton and played a role in the Oilers' back-to-back Stanley Cup Final runs in 2024 and 2025.
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And they brought back veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian on a one-year deal after an injury-riddled 2025-26 season in which he missed 41 regular-season games and two more in the playoffs.
With Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson , the Wild had one of the NHL's most solid goalie tandems last season. But Gustavsson had offseason hip surgery and may not be back in the crease until November, creating a need for another puck-stopper.
Patched in via Zoom from a family cottage on Eagle Lake, Ontario, a few hours due north of International Falls, Pickard said he has great respect for Wallstedt and Gustavsson and looks forward to working with them.
"I've played against them, and I've seen them on TV. I've played against Gustavsson the past few years. Both are great, really good goalies," Pickard said. "Jesper obviously younger, he came into his own this year, playing really well in the playoffs. I'm really excited to meet them and share the net with them and work with them."
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Pickard inked a one-year, $1 million contract in Minnesota. He had logged 191 career games since making his NHL debut with Colorado in 2014. In stints with the Avalanche, Maple Leafs , Flyers, Coyotes, Red Wings and Oilers, he has amassed a 74-77-14 record with five shutouts. His career saves percentage is .901, and Pickard has a 2.96 career goals against average.
He added that having faced Quinn Hughes many times when they both played in the Pacific Division, the Wild defenseman is a "nightmare" for goalies, and Pickard looks forward to them being on the same team.
"We feel Calvin is going to give us solid backup games, and you know, you never hear a bad word about this guy," Wild general manager Bill Guerin said.
Bogosian, who turns 36 in a few months, has logged 970 career games after being the third overall selection by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2008 NHL draft. With Evander Kane , he is one of only two former Thrashers still active in the NHL, after the team relocated to Winnipeg in 2011. He was signed on Wednesday to a one-year contract that will pay him $1.25 million in his 19th NHL season.
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In addition to the goalie and defenseman, the Wild added forwards Justin Kirkland , Mason Shaw , Dylan Gambrell and Jagger Joshua.
Kirkland, 29, has played 51 NHL games in his career, with Anaheim , Arizona and most recently Calgary , where he spent the bulk of last season with the Flames' AHL team. Kirkland's contract is for one year, $850,000 at the NHL level, but will pay less if he plays for the Iowa Wild.
Shaw, 27, returns to Minnesota after spending the past two seasons in Winnipeg's system. He has posted 20 points in 82 career NHL games across parts of three seasons with the Wild between 2021 and 2024.
Gambrell, 29, played 35 games with the Iowa Wild last season. A former college standout at Denver, where he was a member of the Pioneers' 2017 NCAA title team, Gambrell has played 233 career NHL games with Ottawa and San Jose .
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Joshua, 27, is from suburban Detroit and was a four-year standout at Michigan State before signing his first pro contract in 2023. He spent last season in Buffalo's system, leading the Rochester (N.Y.) Americans in penalty minutes.
Overall, it was a relatively quiet and patient day for the Wild, but Guerin said there may still be moves to be made.
"We've been involved in a lot of different things. Some didn't work out. Some we backed out. Some we don't know yet," Guerin said on Wednesday evening. "I can't get into specifics, but it's a crazy day."
Pickard's signing in Minnesota was part of a day of notable goalie moves, with up-and-coming Devon Levi — a two-time goalie of the year in college at Northeastern — going from Buffalo to Edmonton in a trade, former Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner signing in Winnipeg and Sergei Bobrovsky signing in Toronto after he had backstopped the Panthers to a pair of Stanley Cup wins.
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