The Wild picked South St. Paul native Alex Stalock to be their backup goaltender behind Devan Dubnyk, sending former Boston Bruin goalie Niklas Svedberg on waivers Wednesday.

General Manager Chuck Fletcher said the team likely will need more than two goaltenders and hopes Svedberg can continue honing his game at Iowa.

DUMBA TWEAKS ANKLE

Defenseman Matt Dumba "tweaked an ankle" in Tuesday's exhibition loss at Dallas, Fletcher said. The injury doesn't sound serious, but Dumba did not practice Wednesday.

PARISE LIMITED IN PRACTICE

Zach Parise practiced with the team Wednesday but was clearly limited and left the ice early. Parise, who missed the start of camp with a back issue, was on a line with Matt Cullen and Ryan Malone. On one drill, the three of them went through one repetition, and a replacement for Parise jumped on the line for the next two reps.

Still, when asked if he's concerned that Parise's injury will be a concern all season, Fletcher sounded optimistic.

"Well, you never know, but he's getting better and better, and today was another good day for Zach," Fletcher said. "And hopefully over the next couple days he'll get cleared for contact, and we'll go from there.

"I mean you can't predict the future, but I'm really happy -- with the exception, I think, of one day the last two and a half weeks, he's continued to improve and get better. Ad he's skating really well. He's handling the puck well. You guys have seen the practices, and today was another good day.

"You can't predict the future, but he's in great shape. He worked extremely hard this summer, I think he looks quicker to be honest with you this year compared to last year. And he's such a professional, that it wouldn't surprise me if he's ready pretty quickly."

So, Fletcher is holding out hope that Parise could be ready for the Oct. 5 opener in Detroit?

"Well, I'm sure that's [Parise's] goal if you ask him," Fletcher said. "To me, it's an 82-game season, you know, I'd take 70 or 75 games right now. I just want him to be ready, but the next step will be if he continues to do well, at some point here progress to practice with contact, and you often don't need a lot of days at that, so it's not out of the question."