Wild Terminating Contract With Young Forward

The Minnesota Wild are one of two teams remaining in the NHL without a regulation loss, and are looking to cut ties with a young forward. Spotsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported that the Wild have placed 22-year-old forward Pavel Novak on waivers for the purpose of contract termination.

Novak was a fifth-round draft pick (146th overall) of the Wild in 2020, but the NHL doesn’t appear to be in his future.

Since being drafted in 2020, Novak has spent most of his professional career in the ECHL. He scored 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 44 games with the Iowa Heartlanders in 2023-24.

Novak played 13 games with the Wild’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Iowa Wild last year, putting up two goals and an assist.

Before making the jump to professional hockey, Novak was a standout in junior hockey. With the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League, he scored 130 points between 2019 and 2022. In 117 games he scored 59 goals and picked up 76 assists.

Novak spent the 2020-21 season in his native Czechia while hockey was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not long after signing an entry-level deal with the Wild in 2022, Novak announced that he was stepping away from hockey to treat a cancer diagnosis. Novak announced he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Novak was away from the sport for 16 months for treatment and recovery, but he eventually returned to the ice and began his professional career in North America.

According to the Athletic’s Michael Russo, the plan is for Novak to head back to Europe to continue his professional hockey career.

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