The Saginaw Spirit were boosted last week by the return of 6-foot-4 defenseman Bode Wilde, a second-round pick of the New York Islanders.
Wilde had been spending this season with the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but was limited to just 20 games due to an injury he sustained at the start of the season; he had just a pair of assists in those appearances.
Prior to joining the Spirit last season, Wilde had been committed to Michigan (he was formerly committed to Harvard). Last season Wilde finished third in the OHL in defenseman scoring with 70 points (19 goals, 51 assists).
Wilde’s impact was immediately felt this past weekend, where he scored a goal and added a pair of assists in three games for the Spirit; the Islanders said that Wilde will remain with the Spirit for the remainder of the 2019-20 season.
“We didn’t know what to expect with Bode back,” Spirit head coach Chris Lazary told SportsNet.ca. “Sometimes when a guy like him comes back, everyone thinks they can work a little bit less because he’s so good, but it doesn’t work that way.
“He’s excited to be back,” Lazary said. “It’s going to take him some time. It’s going to take him four or five games (to get adjusted). He knows that.
“He’ll settle in and he’ll dominate.”
The Spirit are currently in second place in the OHL’s Western Conference, trailing the London Knights by just four points with 14 games to go in the regular season.
