Canadian center Kyle Wilson has signed a contract with Dinamo Riga. He played in Riga last season but began 2014-15 with Traktor Chelyabinsk, however he was released from his duties after 22 games played where he recorded one goal and and five assists.
Last year in Dinamo he led the team in scoring, recording 44 points in 44 games, but missed the playoffs due to a back injury.
It was a pretty predictable signing, as Wilson had few options after being released by Traktor. Riga has been playing with only two centers the whole season and one of them has been injured. Riga’s GM stated that the KHL and AHL markets are pretty poor when it comes to finding replacement top six centers.
Wilson will most likely play on the top line with last season’s linemate Marcel Hossa, a player who Wilson had the best chemistry with all season, while their linemate generally rotated. Now that Lauris Darzins and Mikelis Redlihs play with Riga it might be one of them joining those two, but you could also expect Miks Indrasis to be the third piece, as he currently is leading Riga in points.
Wilson is 6’0″, 200 pounds and was born December 15th, 1984 in Oakville, Ontario. He was selected 272nd overall in the 2004 NHL entry draft by Minnesota Wild.
In his NHL career he has played 39 games, recording 4 goals and 9 assists. He has spent most of his career in AHL, playing 497 games (166 goals and 197 assists) and has won the Calder Cup twice with Hershey. Last season with Riga was his first outside North America. After the season he signed with Donetsk Donbass, which turned out to be a nightmare due to the situation in Ukraine, so he had to leave and sign with Traktor Chelyabinsk before now finding himself back in the Latvian capital.
Here’s an interview with Wilson upon his arrival in Latvia to begin his second stint with Riga.
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