And sliding Hartman down into a middle-six glue guy is a good recipe for a contending team. But even before his most recent extension, many Wild fans hoped their plethora of solid draft picks would develop just as the contention window opened. Over the past few years, many outside Minnesota had discounted the Wild as true contenders because Hartman was their No. Not only because the dead cap hits from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts are nearing their end, but because some of their top center prospects over the years have either just turned pro ( Marco Rossi) or will shortly (Danila Yurov, Marat Khusnutdinov). Most of us overlooked the questionable hits and occasional lack of detail because he was anchoring the top line and scoring goals in bunches, all while on an extremely affordable contract.īut now the Wild are transitioning to the next three to five years when their true contention window begins to open. Lacking anything resembling strong depth down the middle, Hartman thrived between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello. And to his credit, he did.Įven though almost everyone in hockey knew Hartman wasn’t a true No. It was a perfect situation for him, a young, underachieving first-round draft pick who just needed a chance to prove his worth. Make no mistake, Hartman has been an important player for the Wild almost since the moment he arrived. All that came together to raise the question: What kind of hockey player is Hartman trying to be, and (perhaps most importantly) what role will he play on this team moving forward? But it’s that play, mixed with his penchant for taking bad penalties and his “toeing the line” type of dirty plays that have gotten him in trouble over the years. For all the talk about Hartman’s supposed words and actions to Perfetti on Sunday, the highlight above should be circulating everywhere within the social media circles.ĭoes this paint Hartman as a lazy player? No. It’s simply not a play that should come from a guy his coaches and GM have labeled as a “glue guy” on the roster. Hartman took an ill-advised tripping minor (more on that later), and what followed was an embarrassing level of effort from Hartman, leading to Winnipeg's game-winning goal.įor a player who just signed a contract extension that left many fans questioning Minnesota's rationale for such a deal, Hartman’s effort in that clip gave them a lot of ammo to work with. They’d grinded their way to a 2-2 tie with just under 13 minutes remaining in the game. The play happened in the third period, with an extremely depleted Wild lineup playing a very good Jets squad tough all day. And Hartman’s probably feeling fortunate his antics with Cole Perfetti have stolen the spotlight away from one of the most egregious highlights to come out of that loss on Sunday. Paul on Sunday that nobody is talking about nearly enough. (Can someone say "blown out of proportion?")īut as much as we’d love to continue the debate here, there was a different Ryan Hartman moment from that game in St. If not, you can find more on the controversy here, and here, and here, and here, and here. There’s no need to go into more detail because nearly everyone here has seen the play, heard the press conferences, and most likely formed their own opinions. Minnesota looked to return the favor on Sunday, but how gritty winger Ryan Hartman responded has been highly scrutinized this week. Their star, Kirill Kaprizov, was the biggest loss after he received a few questionable cross-checks on Saturday. The Wild lost both games, and to make matters worse, they had a few critical injuries. In case you missed it, Minnesota entered last weekend facing off in a home-and-home series against the Winnipeg Jets, one of their geographically closest rivals, with a chance to tighten the gap in the Central Division standings. The Wild have found themselves at the forefront of headlines in the hockey world. The storylines haven’t stopped for a team trending closer to the basement of irrelevancy rather than a charge up the standings. Bad starts, mounting injuries, winning streaks, the losing streak, coach firings, internal investigations, and once-heralded prospects getting traded. If the Minnesota Wild were a soap opera, they’d take home all the daytime Emmy Awards.įrom the jump, this season has been full of drama.
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