The Minnesota Wild still have a little over a month before returning to the state for training camp, which means there are still report cards to hand out. The next player to have their season play reviewed is Ryan Hartman. He bounced around the lineup from the first to the fourth line and made an impression in every spot.
While he had trouble finding a consistent lineup spot, he did find his offense again and did his best to help the team. However, it wasn’t all good, obviously, as they didn’t make it to the postseason, and some of that did fall on his shoulders. In this article, we’ll look at a rough part of his game and a strong part of his game and come up with an overall grade. The first thing we’ll look at is his trouble to stay level-headed.
Hartman Runs Hot
Looking over Hartman’s stats, he improved in nearly every category from the season prior. The one area he does need to work on that doesn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet is his temper. He racks up a lot of penalty minutes; some of those are due to his temper, but others are just hockey plays.
He runs hot, which makes his game strong; he plays with an edge others don’t have. Unfortunately, it gets him and his team in trouble occasionally, including at the end of last season when he was suspended for three games after he threw his stick on the ice and it was near a referee. The Wild were already on the outside looking in at that point, but it could’ve been worse if they weren’t.
There was one other minor area he could improve on: his turnovers. He had 37 of them compared to 39 takeaways, so they almost equaled out, but that’s still a high number that should be improved. The Wild really struggled in that area overall, and it’s something the team needs to work on.
Hopefully, Hartman will keep that edge in his game this coming season, but he should be more careful about the penalty minutes. The Wild need his energy level and tenacity, but they need him on the ice more than in the penalty box.
Hartman’s Strong All-Around
With the exception of his temper, Hartman’s game was quite strong throughout the past season. He didn’t have career offensive numbers, but they were better than the previous season. He played in 74 games, scored 21 goals, and assisted on 24 others for 45 points. Ten of those points were on the power play, where he also found success.
He could produce offensively, thanks to his ability to shoot the puck. Some players refuse to shoot the puck and worry more about passing, but not Hartman. He took 173 shots on goal, and he was rewarded for it. However, he wasn’t focused only on offense; he also found a way to step up defensively.
Everyone knows Hartman is similar to his teammate Marcus Foligno in that he’s not afraid to throw hits. He had 75 hits, which put him in seventh place on the roster, but it seemed like he threw his body around more than that. When he wasn’t using his body for hits, he used it to block shots and did that 65 times.
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Hopefully, he can keep these areas of his game going strong, and they’ll make up for the parts he struggles with. It would be great to see him increase his points this coming season.
Hartman’s Overall Grade
After reviewing Hartman’s rough and strong efforts this past season, he earned a C. He did earn an average grade slightly better than some of his teammates because he found a way to produce offensively when others didn’t. On the flip side, he didn’t do better because his temper did affect his team at different times throughout the season.
The Wild will need his spark, strong offense, and impressive defense this coming season if they want to win games and return to the postseason. Hopefully, he can continue to provide and find his way back to the top line once again.
