With Wes Walz being given an excused absence from the team for personal reasons, the Minnesota Wild recalled center Benoit Pouliot on Thursday. Pouliot is expected to make his season debut tonight when the Wild takes on the St. Louis Blues.

While Pouliot heads north, two others will be headed south. Cal Clutterbuck and Nolan Schaefer have been reassigned to the Houston Aeros. Clutterbuck played two games, and impressed head coach Jacques Lemaire with his high-energy play. Schaefer never saw action as Josh Harding's backup for two games.

Those moves were made to allow room for Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra to rejoin the lineup. Both had missed time with groin injuries, but are expected to play tonight as well. Niklas Backstrom also had a groin injury, and while he's not expected to start tonight, he will be used as the backup.