The Minnesota Wild report cards for the defensive core is all wrapped up so now it’s time for the forwards. While some of their forwards moved on at the trade deadline, they will be included in the report cards for how many games they played. The first forward up was Connor Dewar, who despite his small size, loved to throw his body around.
The fourth line is typically known as the checking line, and while that wasn’t lost on Dewar, he also showed a scoring side. In this article, we’ll look at a rough part of his game and a strong part of his game and then give him a grade. Since there was no postseason for the Wild and Dewar would’ve been gone anyway, his regular season performance before the trade deadline when he was dealt to the Toronto Mape Leafs. We’ll start with the rough part of his game, which involved his defensive game.
Dewar Needs Blocks
Dewar has been known for his defensive game, particularly his ability to kill penalties, but this season, his blocked shots left something to be desired. He played in 57 games and had only 27 blocked shots compared to 50 last season in 81 games and 22 in 35 games back in the 2021-22 season. He’s shown in the past that he can block shots, and the Wild needed him to do so this past season.
He had fewer blocks than Jared Spurgeon, who only played 16 games the entire season due to injury problems. The more shots blocked, the fewer goals scored against, and while Dewar did block shots, it should’ve been more. His even-strength points stayed about the same from this past season to the one before, but his penalty kill stats took a slight hit.
He played fewer games, but his overall points only took a small hit compared to his penalty kill. He had four shorthanded points during 2022-23 but only one point this past season. He’s no longer on the Wild’s roster, so these issues are not their problem. However, if he were to ever come back, they’d expect better and need it especially on the penalty kill.
Dewar Scores Goals
Dewar isn’t known for his scoring, but he found a way to increase his goals by almost double this past season. He scored 10 goals last season, the first time he scored in the double digits in his three NHL seasons. This past season, many Wild players struggled, but Dewar was one of the few who had troubles in only one or two areas.
He kept his hit totals up as well as his shots on goal, plus he kept his takeaways high and his giveaways low. Overall, it was hard to complain about his game except for his blocked shots and maybe having a few more assists. He even kept his penalty minutes down, and his time on ice increased. Again, he’s not on the Wild’s roster, so his improvements will not affect them. However, it’s also good to see former players succeed.
Dewar’s Overall Grade
The majority of Dewar’s season went okay except for a few things. He’s a small, quick player who used his energy to throw into big hits. Those hits helped change the game’s momentum at times, and he never lapsed on his physicality. That is an asset to any team he plays on, and the Wild were missing that following the trade deadline.
Related: Meet the Newest Maple Leafs Forward: Connor Dewar
In the last few grade reports, it was stated that only a few players would earn a grade around average or higher because they weren’t at fault for the Wild’s lack of postseason, and Dewar was just added to that list. Since his stats were so close to improving, he earned a C+ for his efforts. They could’ve used more of him, but as a fourth liner, he did what was needed, and that’s why his grade is not higher or lower. He’s not in a Wild jersey anymore, but it’ll be interesting to see what he can do with the Maple Leafs this coming season.
