The Minnesota Wild announced that forward Rieger Lorenz has been sent down to the Iowa Wild, the AHL affiliate of Minnesota.
Lorenz played six games up in Minnesota for his short stint, scoring one point in that frame while averaging around nine minutes of time on ice. He was brought up to supplement the placement of Nick Foligno on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and definitely left some marks.
The Calgary native racked up 15 penalties in minutes in his short stint to start this season, currently second on the Wild roster in that category despite playing so little.
The 22-year-old Lorenz is in his first full season of professional hockey after recently completing his collegiate career. Minnesota selected him with the 56th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, and he played his college hockey at the University of Denver and was certainly a key player during an integral period of winning.
After his freshman season, Lorenz was considered a consistent player with the Pioneers. In his last three seasons of NCAA play, Lorenz scored 39 goals for 85 points in 131 games, marking a +60 rating, becoming a major forward for the Pioneers en route to winning two National Championships in his time there.
After his senior season, Lorenz signed his entry-level contract with the Wild.
Despite going scoreless in his first three professional contests last season, Lorenz has gotten off to a hot start in Des Moines this year. Through AHL Iowa’s first two games, Lorenz has scored two goals and three points with a +3 rating.
Given his contractual flexibility on a waiver-exempt two-way deal, it makes sense that the Wild would want him in the bottom six for cheap offensive upside. Then again, seeing his promising start in Iowa, allowing him to flourish and produce there will help when Minnesota could use his services again, free of worry from a claim from another NHL team.