Almond returns to Wild to show his game is NHL ready

Cody Almond realized he no longer played in North America when he walked into a Switzerland bar one night, ordered two drinks and forked over 70 Swiss francs — or about $75.

"That was an eye opener," Almond, a fifth-round pick by the Wild in 2007, said, laughing, regarding his two-year experience playing in Geneva. "But it's beautiful, relaxed and lot of fun. I learned a little French, traveled a lot, but it's definitely very expensive in Switzerland. Luckily the team, they take care of your housing and your car, so you're taken care of very well.

"But go out for dinner or parking and buying anything, it's kind of a rude awakening when it comes to prices."

Almond, who played 25 games for the Wild in parts of three seasons from 2009 to '12, is back in a Wild sweater at the age of 25. How long he stays depends on how he performs in training camp. His first big test comes in the preseason opener Monday at Winnipeg.

This offseason, after two years playing for Genève-Servette in the 12-team Swiss League, Almond signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Wild worth $550,000. If he doesn't make the Wild, he will be placed on waivers. If he clears, he'll have a choice to play for the Wild's American Hockey League affiliate in Des Moines or return to Geneva, where he recently signed a five-year contract.

"I'll go back there when I'm done playing in North America. Hopefully that's way down the road," Almond said.

The Calgary native was able to get a Swiss passport when he was 18 because his maternal grandmother was born in Switzerland. After being up and down with the Wild for three years, Almond decided two years ago to give Switzerland a shot to develop further as a player. He won a Spengler Cup, and, by staying two years, there was the added bonus of now being eligible for the Swiss national team.

"It's a different style game over there," Almond said. "It's a lot more puck possession, more plays. It's all about speed, and maybe those are the areas I needed to work on."

Almond, who scored 26 goals and 64 points in 83 games in two seasons in Switzerland, has flashed an offensive side so far in training camp. However, if Almond's going to make the Wild as a 12th or 13th forward, he will need to rediscover the identity he had when he played for now-Wild coach Mike Yeo in Houston.

In scrimmages Friday and Saturday, Yeo felt there were opportunities for Almond to finish checks that he passed up.

"I plan to talk to him," Yeo said. "I think that it's great that he's showing that he has more of an offensive side than he did a couple years ago, but we have to make sure that some of the parts of the defensive side and the edge that he has to play with are there as well.

"He would have to have one heck of a camp to jump into our No. 1 or 2 center spot, let's put it that way."

Center Tyler Graovac has captured the eyes of management early in camp and in recent informal skates, but at 21, he will realistically need more time in the AHL. While Wild fans likely will see Graovac at some point this season, the Wild doesn't want him playing limited minutes. Same goes for young Kurtis Gabriel.

Brett Sutter, 27, the son of Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter, is one player competing against Almond. The former Charlotte Checkers captain brings energy and grit and could be useful on the fourth line, although Almond's one-way contract could give him the inside edge.

Others battling for that extra forward spot include Michael Keranen, the Finnish star who tied for the scoring lead in the SM-Liiga last year; former Gopher Jordan Schroeder; bruiser Curt Gogol, and veteran Stephane Veilleux.

Only Veilleux won't play in Winnipeg — the first of six Wild exhibition games.

"Going to Switzerland was more of just getting myself to the level of play where I can step into this league. But this is always where I wanted to be," Almond said. "Geneva was a great experience, but it's definitely time to come back and I plan to stick around for a while."

Etc.

• Goalies Niklas Backstrom and Ilya Bryzgalov are slated to split Monday's game. Defenseman Gustav Olofsson and Gabriel will make their NHL preseason debuts, while Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter, Justin Fontaine, Jason Zucker, Keith Ballard and Christian Folin are among those expected to play. Coyle will play center.

• Center Kyle Brodziak (back) didn't skate for a second day in a row.