Leland Irving, a former first-round pick that spent two seasons with Calgary, has signed a professional tryout contract to attend Minnesota’s training camp later this week.
Irving, 27, spent last season with KHL club Ufa Salavat Yulayev. The decision to play in Russia came after he planned to attend the Lightning’s training camp last fall, only to later change his mind and sign overseas.
Irving has only played in 13 NHL games, and the numbers aren’t great -- 3.25 GAA, .902 save percentage. That said, he did work his way back onto the radar with a strong ’13-14 campaign with Finnish-based KHL club Jokerit, posting a 2.14 GAA and .922 save percentage in 55 games.
It’ll be interesting to see if Irving can score a deal with the Wild.
The club has recent history with reviving once-promising goalies: Devan Dubnyk, the former first-rounder that was nearly out of the NHL, caught fire with Minnesota last season and finished as a Vezina nominee.
Dubnyk went on to sign a six-year, $26 million extension with the Wild this summer. He’s one of the club’s three goalies on NHL contracts, along with Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper.
Related:
Backstrom suffered serious nerve damage in elbow
Wild still optimistic about Kuemper despite ‘erratic’ season