The Minnesota Wild lost 2-1 Thursday night in Calgary, their second straight loss after an overtime defeat in Edmonton two nights earlier. Now 6-3-2, they head to Seattle on Saturday.
The Wild blue line has been in flux all season. Brock Faber hasn’t played yet, while Jared Spurgeon and Olli Maatta both returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing multiple games.
MN Wild place Daemon Hunt on waivers
Because of all the injuries, one young defenseman got lots of opportunity early this season. On Friday afternoon, though, after producing zero points and a -4 rating in 11 games played, the Minnesota Wild waived their 24-year-old former third-round draft pick, Daemon Hunt.
The #mnwild has placed defenseman Daemon Hunt on waivers.
— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) October 23, 2026
Hunt, who was on a one-year deal worth $900,000, averaged 14:08 TOI this season before he was placed on waivers. If another team claims Hunt and places him on their active roster in the next 24 hours, he is gone. If not, the Wild can send him to AHL Iowa.
Hunt on the move again…
Hunt has been moved around plenty over the past two years. The Wild drafted him in the third round, 65th overall, in 2020, then traded him to Columbus on Nov. 30, 2024, as part of the package for defenseman David Jiricek.
He had played one NHL game and nine AHL games with Iowa that season, and he finished it in Cleveland with 14 points in 48 games. The Blue Jackets re-signed him to a one-year, two-way deal in August 2025, then put him on waivers before the season. Minnesota claimed him back on Oct. 3, 2025.
Daemon Hunt sacrificing the body https://t.co/5AFewvRll6
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) May 10, 2026
Related: MN Wild Get Injured Forward Back vs Oilers; Others “Close”
He went on to play a career-high 32 games with six assists and added an assist in five playoff games. The Wild re-signed him to a one-year deal in July. Hunt has now played 56 NHL games. Despite his moving around, all of his time on NHL ice has been spent in Minnesota. He’s still in search of his first goal (7 NHL assists).
Minnesota still has eight other defensemen on its roster, including Faber. Two of them, Matt Kiersted and David Spacek, are the most likely candidates to pick up any of Hunt’s minutes that don’t go back to Spurgeon or Maatta. Kiersted has played three games, averaging 11:50 a night with a plus-2. Spacek has played six, averaging 13:02 with a minus-1.