ST. LOUIS – With two key players still working their way through the recovery process, the Minnesota Wild called in a few reinforcements, hoping they will not need both of them on their three-game road trip this week. On Sunday, the Wild recalled forwards Ben Jones and Devin Shore from Iowa, and they were on the team’s Monday afternoon charter to St. Louis. Jones, 25, is a veteran of two NHL games with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021 and has a dozen points in 14 games with Iowa this season. He signed a two-year free agent contract with the Wild on July 1, 2024 and will wear number 39 with Minnesota. Shore, 30, has 10 points in 14 games with Iowa this season and came to the Wild organization on July 1, 2024 via a one-year contract. He skated in 21 NHL games for the Seattle Kraken last season and has logged 443 games at the NHL level, most of them with Dallas, which picked him in the second round of the 2012 draft out of the University of Maine. He has been assigned number 19 by the Wild. The transactions come after forward Mikey Milne made his NHL debut in Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Dallas, then was sent back down to Iowa on Sunday. Coach John Hynes is hopeful for the return of defenseman Jonas Brodin – who has missed the previous two games with an upper body injury – and forward Joel Ericksson Ek – who missed the Dallas game after leaving last Thursday’s 3-0 win over Montreal in the first period with a lower body injury. Both men skated at TRIA Rink on Monday morning before the team headed to the airport. Ericksson Ek centered the team’s top line between Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy on Monday morning, which could be a potential boost for the Wild on Tuesday in St. Louis. That trio was very effective together last season. “I think they all played fast, they played really connected. I thought they played direct,” Hynes said. “All three of them are skilled players, but I thought that coming up the ice, there were direct plays. There wasn’t a ton of east-west. If the play was there, they made it. But what made them really effective was just how tenacious they were in the offensive zone. In the loss to Dallas, Boldly played center on the top line between Kaprizov and Marcus Johansson, but Boldy has played the bulk of his career at wing and is likely a more natural fit there. Ericksson Ek was excited for his return, and for the potential reunion with Boldy and Kaprizov. “I think we won puck battles. Getting those second, third, maybe sometimes fourth opportunities just from winning battles and creating those chances and keeping plays alive,” he said. “Those two players are going to find plays every night. So just try to get them the puck as much as possible. Power play changes The Wild’s man advantage units did not provide a needed spark in the loss to Dallas, and on Monday Hynes did a little juggling, moving defenseman Declan Chisholm to the top power play unit and moving Brock Faber to the quarterback role on the second unit. “Just a little bit of a different look. With (Mats) Zuccarello out it changes the dynamic a little bit of the power play. Having a lefty up there may give (Boldy) a few more options,” Hynes said. “I also think a lefty up top might be easier to get some pucks over to the left side. The power play has been a little bit out of synch and now we have some different guys that have been on and off it. That’s why we did it. (Faber) is still running the top on the other unit.” Related Articles Minnesota Wild | Wild penalty-kill confidence growing Minnesota Wild | Relentless Dallas offense too much for Wild Minnesota Wild | Wild notebook: Michael Milne told to ‘bring what you bring’ in NHL debut Minnesota Wild | Wild lose Mats Zuccarello for 3-4 weeks Minnesota Wild | Patched-together Wild lineup holds off Canadiens