ST. PAUL, Minn. — There was a time last month when Ryan Hartman wondered whether his season was over.
Maybe even his career.
Hartman had hurt his right shoulder Oct. 30 in a fight with Jarred Tinordi; it was a “very unique and awkward play” during which his fully extended arm got punched in the wrong spot. “Very, very unlucky,” Hartman said. It was the same shoulder Hartman had surgically repaired four years ago — a labrum procedure, specifically so it never happens again.
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Hartman was told he’d know within three weeks whether the shoulder could heal with rehab or if he needed season-ending surgery. A CT scan revealed a “best-case scenario,” which led him back to his return for Sunday’s 4-2 victory over the Senators.
“It was a pretty emotional first couple of days,” Hartman said. “I know a couple teammates have stopped playing after certain injuries. But everything healed as it was supposed to. The goal was to stay in for the season.”
What if Hartman is the top-six help general manager Bill Guerin indicated he was looking for just three weeks ago? Thirty-four goal scorers don’t usually show up on the trade market — and certainly are not cheap. And if the Wild’s latest five-game winning streak (victories in 11 of 14) is any indication, their forward depth might not be as dire as people expected following Kevin Fiala’s offseason trade.
It’s actually been a strength.
“It’s fantastic,” coach Dean Evason said. “We feel very comfortable putting anyone on the ice. I don’t think a lot of coaches have that — we do. Any given night, anyone can start offensively, defensively. Everybody, I think, understands and feels their role is an important role on our team. Some guys obviously play more minutes than others, but nobody’s more important than anybody on our hockey club.”
It all starts with Kirill Kaprizov. The Russian superstar surprised fans by dressing up as an elf on his way to the rink (donning the hat on the ice for warmups). Ryan Reaves had called him a few days earlier with the idea: Reaves (as Santa) and Kaprizov (as an elf) passing out pucks and sticks to fans before the final home game before Christmas.
“I said, ‘Yeah, why not? Let’s go,’” Kaprizov said.
Kaprizov got the Wild started with his 19th goal of the season, then assisted on Mats Zuccarello’s goal early in the second period. Sam Steel, the team’s surprising No. 1 center, put it on a tee for Zuccarello with a slick feed. The trio has combined for 51 points since Steel moved to the top line 14 games ago.
This line do be hitting differently 🤌#mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 18, 2022
Kaprizov became the fourth player to reach 200 points in 167 games or fewer since the start of the 2000-01 season. The others: Sidney Crosby (142), Alex Ovechkin (165) and Evgeni Malkin (166). Kaprizov is the fastest Wild player to reach 200. As Crosby has said, “He’s got no weaknesses.”
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“Expect everything,” goalie Filip Gustavsson said of Kaprizov. “He can come down and do anything. You never know whether he’s going to shoot it or if he’s going to do a weird dangle that you never think anyone is going to do.”
It was a special day for Gustavsson, too. It was his first game against his former team, with the Senators having dealt him to Minnesota in the summer’s Cam Talbot trade. Gustavsson has won six consecutive starts, and though three of them have come against the Senators, Red Wings and Ducks, he made some timely stops in each that proved pivotal.
On Sunday, it was a pad save on Alex DeBrincat on a three-on-one midway through the first period after a turnover by Kaprizov. On the same shift, Kaprizov scored. In the second period, Gustavsson stoned Drake Batherson shortly before Zuccarello’s goal. “It’s great to feed off their chances,” Gustavsson said.
The Wild have allowed five goals during their four-game homestand, with a .962 save percentage. Both are first in the NHL over that span.
“In the first 10 minutes of the game, we had two or three Grade-A’s that we could have easily been 1-0,” Senators forward Derick Brassard said.
The Wild have taken advantage of a soft part of their schedule, including hosting three straight teams coming in on the back end of back-to-backs.
“They forechecked, and forechecked us hard,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “They knew we played last night. They put it in, the game plan was good and to smack us.”
Minnesota can do that because of its depth up front. Evason likes to roll all four lines, and with the GREEF line (Jordan Greenway, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno) back together, he has his shutdown group. The Mason Shaw–Connor Dewar–Reaves line had a 75 Corsi-For percentage in 6 1/2 minutes of five-on-five ice time, according to Natural Stat Trick.
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Having Hartman back now with Freddy Gaudreau and Matt Boldy gives them another scoring line. The second power-play unit is now a little more dangerous.
“We’ve got four lines that can play and score,” Hartman said. “(The Reaves line) is a great energy line for us. They play hard, they get the puck into their zone and can keep it there when they’re firing on all cylinders.”
The key is keeping Hartman on the ice.
He’s always going to play a gritty, physical game, but Hartman acknowledged his shoulder injury in the Tinordi fight was a “preventable one.” He noted he likely won’t be fighting for a couple of weeks, though he doesn’t want to completely take it out of his game.
“I don’t think Ryan Hartman is going to change his game regardless of what his injury is,” Evason said. “He’s going to play the same way. Do we want him fighting guys who are 6-foot-4? No. Did we want him to do that before? Not really. But that’s the type of guy he is. If it comes to that, he might have to restrain himself, but he’s going to play the same way. He’s going to play with an edge.”
Hartman said he feels 100 percent and is comfortable throwing his body around, which he did during 12 minutes and 10 seconds of ice time Sunday. He didn’t have many practices to prepare for, but he did competitions in the gym with fellow injured forward Brandon Duhaime. He spent a lot of time on the ice with skating/skills coach Andy Ness and, towards the end, did contact drills with assistant Darby Hendrickson.
Though Sunday’s game sheet said Hartman didn’t play the final 8:28, Evason said nobody got shut down and the 28-year-old forward said he had no setbacks or injuries. Evason liked the way Hartman handled the puck and played his gritty game and how strong he was on the walls. He didn’t like Hartman’s interference penalty but otherwise was happy.
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“He’s such a smart player — the offensive side and defensive side as well,” captain Jared Spurgeon said. “Obviously, the first game back, I’m sure it was a little quick, but I think he looked great out there. He made some great plays. I think he lifted the power play early, and that shot is such a threat at all times. That’s something we’re obviously excited to have back.”
Hartman said he wasn’t too happy with how his season started — his play got him moved off the top line with Kaprizov and Zuccarello. But he felt like he was starting to get his confidence back in the few games before he got hurt, so he’s hoping to “start where I left off.”
How Hartman plays and produces could go a long way in determining Guerin’s plans for the Mar. 3 trade deadline. Guerin told The Athletic last week that he’d “probably like a little more scoring if we need it,” but “if (Hartman) can regain his scoring touch again, we probably won’t need it.” As Guerin said, the need for a top-six forward “definitely calmed down a bit.”
That doesn’t mean Guerin won’t be on the lookout for one in the next couple of months. But the Wild GM noted that their problem in last year’s playoffs wasn’t that they couldn’t score; it was that they didn’t play the right way at the most critical time. This team appears to be finding its identity: the ability to play a hard-checking, tight defensive game with some skill on several of its lines.
It helps that the Wild’s biggest star, Kaprizov, is playing at a high level (and showing his personality off the ice).
“It took me, like, four-something to get it. That’s not saying much,” Hartman said of Kaprizov reaching 200 career points. “A special player. He knows how to shoot. He’s different than some of these other superstar guys in the league where they’re kind of just waiting for power plays to get their chances. He battles. He’s in every battle. He’s working — he’s the hardest worker out there. He plays a really good all-around game.”
Will Kaprizov’s elf costume be brought back?
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Kaprizov smiled. “Maybe next year,” he said.
Dressed 🎅
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 18, 2022
(Photo: Matt Krohn / USA Today)
