5 random players you forgot were on the Minnesota Wild

3. Ilya Bryzgalov

Bryzgalov won a Stanley Cup as the backup to Jean-Sebastian Giguere with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, but he was waived early in the following season and landed with the Phoenix Coyotes.

Bryzgalov earned two All-Star selections (2010 and 2011) as the No. 1 goalie in Phoenix, with 104 wins, a .916 save percentage, a 2.58 goals-against average and 18 shutouts over his three seasons there.

Bryzgalov was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in June of 2011, and they gave him a massive nine-year contract that was destined to become an albatross. Two years in, the Flyers bought out the rest of the deal and set Bryzgalov free.

After playing 20 games (19 starts) for the Edmonton Oilers in 2013-14, with a 3.01 goals-against and a .908 save percentage, Bryzgalov was traded to the Wild for a fourth-round pick. He was between the pipes for 12 games in Minnesota, starting 11, and he posted a 7-1-3 record with a .911 save percentage, a 2.12 goals against and three shutouts. He also made nine playoff appearances (eight starts) for the Wild that spring, with three wins and a shutout.

Bryzgalov landed back in Anaheim for the 2014-15 campaign, but he would only play eight games to wrap up his NHL career in his age-34 season.

It was a pretty quick fall for Bryzgalov. But it’s easily forgotten how he really helped the Wild right after he was acquired.