Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has re-signed restricted free-agent forward Tyler Graovac (pronounced GRAY-oh-vack) to a two-year contract that is a two-way contract in 2016-17 ($600,000/$90,000) and a one-way contract in 2017-18 ($650,000), and restricted free-agent forward Zac Dalpe (pronounced dahl-pee) to a one-year, two-way contract ($600,000/$275,000).
Graovac, 23 (4/27/93), registered 16 points (5-11=16) in 39 games with Iowa in the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2015-16. He also appeared in two games with Minnesota, suffering an injury in the season opener on Oct. 8and undergoing bilateral core muscle repair surgery on Nov. 3. The 6-foot-5, 212-pound native of Brampton, Ont., has played in five games with Minnesota over two seasons (2014-16) after being selected by the Wild in the seventh round (191st overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in Saint Paul. Graovac has tallied 87 points (39-48=87) in 176 AHL games with Iowa.
Dalpe, 26 (11/1/89), totaled four points (3-1=4) in eight games with Iowa in 2015-16 – undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum on his left hip on Nov. 5 and returning to action on Feb. 18 before suffering a knee injury on Feb. 24. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Paris, Ont., finished the season with Minnesota, making his debut with the club in the final two games of the season, including a goal in the final game. He also appeared in three playoff games with Minnesota. Dalpe has totaled 21 points (11-10=21) in 119 games during parts of six NHL seasons with Carolina (2010-2013), Vancouver (2013-14), Buffalo (2014-15) and Minnesota (2015-16). He was originally selected by Carolina in the second round (45th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft and was signed as a free agent by Minnesota on July 1, 2015.
[Minnesota Wild press release]
Photo credit: YouTube/Iowa Wild
