While all the attention in St. Paul rightly went to the signings of Eric Staal and Chris Stewart, those weren’t the only moves the Minnesota Wild made this weekend. The team signed an additional 2 free agents, forward Pat Cannone and defenseman Victor Bartley.

At first glance, those don’t appear to be moves that should move the needle. Cannone is 29, Bartley is 28. Cannone has never played in an NHL game, whereas Bartley has appeared in 121 over the course of 4 seasons. Both appear destined to play in the minor leagues next season.

But even though those players will likely make a minimal impact at the NHL level, they’re still smart signings for the Wild’s organization. Cannone and Bartley should provide significant boosts to Minnesota’s AHL team.

And do the Iowa Wild ever need a boost.

Since moving from Houston (where they were formerly known as the Aeros) times have been lean for the farm team. They’ve been last place in their division each year since the re-location, and dead-last in the AHL for two straight seasons.

It hadn’t always been that way. Before the move, the Aeros had a run of respectability, getting to the Calder Cup Final in 2010-11 and being competitive during the 2012 lockout, when the talent level in the AHL skyrocketed.

Part of the reason for the decline is the wave of talent coming through the minors at that time was quickly brought into the NHL.

Players like Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker were needed to fill in gaps in Minnesota’s lineup when they might’ve spent more time in the AHL in other organizations.

But that’s fairly standard for an AHL team. There’s always going to turnover among the elite players.

A bigger issue Iowa wasn’t getting much in the way of prospect depth coming through the system. Minnesota general manager Chuck Fletcher has liberally used mid-round picks throughout his tenure, either to move up in the draft or improve his NHL squad.

While that at times benefitted Minnesota, those mid-round picks he gave up can often turn into useful AHL depth. It also didn’t help that many of the prospects Fletcher drafted from around 2011-2014 were college players, who generally take longer to join the professional ranks than their CHL counterparts.

And perhaps even more impactful was that the Wild relied almost exclusively on a young, thin talent pool to carry the load in Iowa. That’s not a winning formula in that league, where most of the scoring leaders aren’t top prospects, but AHL veterans. The Aeros had those players in Jon DiSalvatore, Chad Rau, and Maxim Noreau — ones who weren’t going to get an NHL role, but helped Houston win.

So, with all those issues, it’s no wonder why Iowa has been so unsuccessful in recent years. But there are, in theory, advantages to not having these high-level AHL veterans on the club. Mainly, it allows the prospects coming through your system to get top playing time, and players like Erik Haula, Tyler Graovac, Matt Dumba, and Gustav Olofsson benefitted from that.

But those positives have been mitigated by the losing that strategy causes. While some prospects thrived in Iowa, other high picks have seen their development stunted by what appears to be a toxic environment.

Zack Phillips, a skilled center and former first-round pick, flamed out in part due to attitude concerns which couldn’t have been helped by being in last place. Other talented prospects, like Brett Bulmer, Raphael Bussieres, and Michael Keranen also failed to develop.

Most damningly for Iowa’s environment, Mike Reilly struggled in Des Moines for the first half of his season, eventually getting a call-up just to clear his head. After seeming lost in the AHL, Reilly got playing time in the NHL, where he was confident and poised. That shouldn’t happen.

Fletcher tried addressing this problem last year by bringing in AHL vet Zac Dalpe, who would’ve helped somewhat if not for injuries. But even if Dalpe had been healthy, one player isn’t enough to fix the team.

Their two signings from this weekend should make an impact, though. Cannone is a good offensive player who should create opportunities for his linemates, and the fact that he served as a captain for the Chicago Wolves can’t hurt. Bartley gives Iowa the kind of puck-moving defenseman that they’ve severely lacked outside of their top prospects.

These signings show that Fletcher is serious about fixing the situation in Iowa. Cannone and Bartley are coming in along with an influx of prospects like Alex Tuch, Mario Lucia, Sam Anas, Adam Gilmour, and others.

While all that may not be enough to lift Iowa from last-place to a playoff spot, it should at least help foster an environment that doesn’t undermine the development of their prospects. And that’s a fine start.