3 Minnesota Wild Players Who Shine Behind the Scenes

The Minnesota Wild have had a busy past couple of offseasons with Kirill Kaprizov’s contract extension last season, and now, this season, all eyes are on Quinn Hughes and when/if he’ll sign an extension. That’s been the main storyline front and center alongside Dylan Larkin requesting a trade and the Wild being on his short list of teams he’d be willing to go to. 

The big names always get the spotlight, and we’ve already talked about some breakout players who may step up and surprise. However, in this article we’ll take a look at players who do a lot of behind-the-scenes work but don’t get the attention for it. We’ll start with a player who spends most of his time on the fourth line and doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves. 

Sturm Shines Quietly

Most fans don’t pay much attention to players on the fourth line unless they’re throwing big hits. Nico Sturm uses his physicality, but not as much as players like Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin, and therefore he stays under the radar. He works hard on the penalty kill and does what needs to be done, which has earned him a little attention but not much, especially compared to his teammates. 

One area that he should be looked at for is his faceoffs, but again, he doesn’t take many because of being on the fourth line; however, he still has a decent faceoff win percentage with a career average of 56.3 percent. Again, although he has a solid percentage, he doesn’t get to use it much, and even when he does, it often goes unnoticed because of his bottom-six slot. 

Regardless of his position on the roster, Sturm knows his role and fulfills it well. He shines quietly in his spot and does well being outside the direct light of the spotlight. It’ll be interesting to see where he fits into the lineup this season, and of course he’ll likely get noticed a bit more if he’s in between the Foligno brothers, but regardless, he’ll still play his best behind the scenes. 

Hunt Works Outside the Spotlight

Daemon Hunt is an intriguing player as he hasn’t filled a permanent spot on the Wild’s roster just yet, but he’s had some strong showings. He played a career-high 32 games last season, and although he didn’t score any goals, he assisted on six others. He’s not a big offensive presence, which is clear, but he plays a heads-up style that could eventually lead to more goals. 

He also has speed and finesse that most don’t notice, but if fans pay attention to his game, they’ll see it. He doesn’t have the speed of Quinn Hughes, the tenacity of Brock Faber, the experience of Jared Spurgeon, the blocking skills of Jonas Brodin, or the physicality of Zach Bogosian. However, he has his own mix of all of those players’ skills plus his own that makes him a player to watch. 

With Hughes and Faber on the top pair getting all of the attention, the rest of the defense gets a bit overlooked. Hunt can sneak his way through without being noticed, and he has a strong, quick shot that can beat goaltenders. Although he doesn’t use it a lot, when he does, it’s a great shot that will eventually lead to more goals and maybe more attention.

Hartman the Unknown

Ryan Hartman doesn’t completely fit the bill of a behind-the-scenes player, especially with his prior history of suspensions; however, he has worked hard to change his game. He plays with more discipline and is a lot more careful with his game, which has helped his team. Since he’s taken a bit of the edge off his game, some may not be watching him as closely as they used to.

In the past, fans didn’t have to watch too closely to notice Hartman, as he was either hitting someone with a lot of force or he was getting into a scrum after the play. He has shown he has offensive creativity, but he’s struggled to have the same level of success he had when at his career best back in 2021-22. 

Again, he’s not as hidden as the other players, but since his game has a bit less of an edge to it, he doesn’t draw the same level of attention and can sneak in behind players. He can do more behind the scenes and move without being hindered. Hopefully he can get a spark going again in his game and not have his game as unnoticed as it has been. 

Players never truly go 100 percent unnoticed, but there are some that are overlooked, and the first two players on this list can fit into that category. Their game isn’t as spectacular as the top players on the team, but they still get the job done. It’ll be interesting to see if any of these players step up and bring more attention to their game or if they’ll continue to shine behind the scenes and help the Wild get wins.