Zane McIntyre returns to Minnesota Wild on one-year contract
Jul. 1—GRAND FORKS — Zane McIntyre will remain with the Minnesota Wild organization.
The former Thief River Falls Lincoln High School and UND standout goaltender has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Wild.
If he's in the NHL, it will be worth $775,000. If he's in the American Hockey League with the Iowa Wild, it will be worth $305,000.
The 30-year-old goalie posted a 2.87 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage in 34 games last season with Iowa, where he split time with first-round draft pick Jesper Wallstedt (3.35, .897).
McIntyre also had a stint as a backup with the Wild, but never got into an NHL game in 2022-23.
McIntyre's last NHL action came during the 2016-17 season with the Boston Bruins. He played in eight NHL games that season, posting a 3.97 goals-against average and a .858 save percentage.
He spent the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons with Boston's top minor-league affiliate, Providence.
McIntyre had stints with the AHL affiliates of the Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers the next two seasons. He also played six games in Riga, Latvia.
McIntyre's break to get back on NHL radars came during the 2021-22 season.
After a strong start with AHL Tucson (Ariz.), the Wild signed McIntyre to an NHL contract for the rest of the season. He's been with the organization ever since.
McIntyre is one of this area's most decorated goalies.
He won the Frank Brimsek Award as the top high school senior goalie in the state of Minnesota in 2010. He won the United States Hockey League's goaltender of the year honor with the Fargo Force in 2012. Then, he won college hockey's top goalie honor, the Mike Richter Award, in 2015 with UND.
As of July 1, there are 20 former UND players under NHL contracts for 2023-24.
They are Jacob Bernard-Docker (Ottawa), Brock Boeser (Vancouver), Drake Caggiula (Edmonton), Judd Caulfield (Anaheim), Derek Forbort (Boston), Rhett Gardner (Philadelphia), Tyson Jost (Buffalo), Matt Kiersted (Florida), Tyler Kleven (Ottawa), Paul LaDue (N.Y. Islanders), Brad Malone (Edmonton), Brock Nelson (Islanders), T.J. Oshie (Washington), Tucker Poolman (Vancouver), Jake Sanderson (Ottawa), Nick Schmaltz (Arizona), Cole Smith (Nashville), Troy Stecher (Arizona) and Christian Wolanin (Vancouver).
There are nine former Fighting Hawks who are unrestricted free agents after being on NHL contracts last season: forward Collin Adams, goalie Aaron Dell, forward Grant Mismash, forward Zach Parise, forward Austin Poganski, defenseman Colton Poolman, goalie Adam Scheel, forward Jonathan Toews and forward Jasper Weatherby.
