The Minnesota Wild have given a contract extension to restricted free agent defenseman Zach Palmquist, according to the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo. The team has not officially announced the signing and terms have not been disclosed.
The Wild signed Palmquist to a two-year, two-way deal out of Minnesota State-Mankato following his senior season, making last season his first full year of pro hockey. Palmquist fit in with the Iowa Wild well, though he has not played well enough to get a NHL look through the team’s crowded blue line.
Palmquist will most likely continue to be AHL depth. The blue line is loaded at the NHL level. Young players like Matt Dumba, Gustav Olofsson and Mike Reilly are all ahead of him on the depth chart. As are older cusp players like Nate Prosser and Christian Folin. To boot, the team signed Victor Bartley on the opening day of free agency. He is likely to play in the AHL but has a lot of NHL experience.
With the signing of Palmquist, preceded by the signing of Tyler Graovac and Zac Dalpe, the only remaining RFAs for the Wild are Dumba, Darcy Kuemper and Jordan Schroeder, who has filed for arbitration.
