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Report: Wild to sign QMJHL d-man of the year Gelinas

GuillaumeGelinas

The Minnesota Wild are reportedly taking a flier on Quebec league standout Guillaume Gelinas.

Gelinas, who won this year’s Emile Bouchard trophy as the QMJHL’s top defenseman, will ink a deal with the Wild this week, per TVA’s Mikael Lalancette. An undersized 21-year-old -- 5-foot-10, 185 pounds -- Gelinas was never drafted by an NHL club but shot to prominence this season by scoring a whopping 92 points in 67 games (and 34 points in 24 playoff games) for Val d’or, who lost to WHL Edmonton in the 2014 Memorial Cup semifinal.

(Gelinas had two points in three games for the Foreurs at the Memorial Cup.)

Though he was one of the league’s older players this year, Gelinas put himself in some elite company by winning the Bouchard award. Past winners include Pittsburgh d-men Simon Despres and Kris Letang, Phoenix’s Keith Yandle, Florida’s Dmitry Kulikov and Columbus’ David Savard.