IOWA WILD REASSIGNS BRETT BUDGELL AND MAXIM CAJKOVIC, RELEASES DAVIS KOCH
Jan 9, 2024DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Wild General Manager Mike Murray today announced the American Hockey League (AHL) club has reassigned forwards Brett Budgell and Maxim Cajkovic to the Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL. Iowa also released forward Davis Koch from his professional try-out contract (PTO).
Budgell, 22 (6/1/2001), has skated in 11 games with the Iowa Wild this season. Through 18 games with the Heartlanders, Budgell has posted 13 points (5-8=13) and six penalty minutes (PIM). He collected 52 points (16-36=52) in 72 games with the Newfoundland Growlers in the ECHL in 2022-23. The 6-foot, 187-pound native of St. John’s, N.L totaled 241 points (107-134=241) across 270 games with the Charlottetown Islanders in the QMJHL from 2017-2023. Budgell led the QMJHL in assists (43) in 2020-21 and served as the captain of Charlottetown during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
Cajkovic, 22 (1/3/01), has posted three points (1-2=3) and 2 PIM in five games with the Iowa Wild this season. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound native of Bratislava, Slovakia, has recorded 15 points (10-5=15) and 28 PIM in 16 games with the Heartlanders in 2023-24. Prior to joining the Heartlanders, Cajkovic played for two seasons with the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL), where he tallied 39 points (18-21=39) and 69 PIM in 66 games. He appeared in 20 games with Syracuse during the 2021-22 season, where he recorded six points (3-3=6) and 4 PIM. He was originally selected by Tampa Bay in the third round (89th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Koch, 25 (6/13/98), appeared in two games with the Iowa Wild. He has skated in 31 games with the Heartlanders this season, where he has recorded 26 points (15-11=26) and 18 penalty minutes (PIM). The 6-foot, 170-pound native of Surrey, B.C. played professionally in Germany in the DEL and DEL2 from 2019-2023 before joining the Heartlanders. Prior to his professional career, Koch spent six seasons in the WHL with the Edmonton Oil Kings and Vancouver Giants, where he totaled 255 points (91-164) and 58 PIM through 319 games.
For more information on Iowa Wild hockey, please visit www.iowawild.com. Fans can purchase single-game tickets through the team’s website at www.iowawild.com. Group tickets (10 or more), suites, Wild 365 memberships or premium tickets can be purchased by contacting the Iowa Wild Ticket Department at 515-564-8700 or tickets@iowawild.com. Season tickets for 2023-24 are on sale now. Fans can purchase season tickets for the upcoming season at https://www.iowawild.com/wild-365.
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