The news came down the other day that the Minnesota Wild had locked down Brandon Duhaime to a one-year deal worth $1.1 million which means his arbitration hearing is officially off the table. That gives both the team and Duhaime a sense of relief, at least until next season. He got a slight raise and the opportunity to re-negotiate in a year or he’s free to explore his options as an unrestricted free agent.
The Wild are happy to have Duhaime back as he brings a number of things to the lineup that would be hard to replace. He hit a slight hiccup last season with scoring issues as well as injury problems, so hopefully, this coming season he’ll be able to redeem himself in more ways than one. We’ll start with what Duhaime brings to the team by staying and what he’ll have to do to return after this coming season.
Duhaime’s Skillset
Everyone knows about Duhaime’s ability to use his size and throw big hits just like Marcus Foligno. That’s why he’s on the fourth line, he fits in well with the grit and skill that’s been on that line over the past season. He added penalty killing specialist to his resume as well as he paired with his pal Connor Dewar to help kill off penalties; he even scored a goal while shorthanded.
Clearly, the penalty kill success didn’t continue into the postseason but hopefully, they’ll be able to get it back on track at the beginning of this coming season. The entire offense hit a roadblock as well during the playoffs and Duhaime was no different. He’s pretty underrated in the scoring department which can be good in terms of catching teams off guard. They don’t expect him to be able to score goals and often times the other team’s defense will leave him open.
The Wild will need him to get back in tune with his scoring side and show what he can do. He only had 10 points in 51 games played this past season but nine of those points were goals. He was on a roll during his rookie season in 2021-22 with 17 points total and then hit somewhat of a roadblock due to his injuries in 2022-23, with goals in between each of his injuries throughout the season. Hopefully, he can stay healthy this season and get back to the offense he showed at the beginning of his career.
Duhaime Has to Show his Skill
Since the deal is only for one season, Duhaime has to put in the work to show he deserves another contract in Minnesota. Most are saying this is a “prove it” season for him or he’ll be on the outs following this coming season. His hitting isn’t something that needs to be worked on as he’s quite proficient in that area.
He’s also shown improvements in both his turnovers and takeaways, but his blocked shots could use some work. Being on the fourth line, he should be blocking everything that comes his way in the defensive zone. Fourth-liners are typically more defense-minded than offense and while Duhaime is both, he’s gotta do something to make himself irreplaceable such as blocking a lot of shots.
Besides scoring and playing solid defense, he has to step up on the penalty kill, and again that’s where the blocked shots come into play. The Wild were notorious for their trips to the penalty box last season and if that’s going to continue, their penalty kill has to do better to make up for it. If he can prove himself crucial to the success of the penalty kill and get back onto the scoring train, he can make himself more valuable after this coming season.
Duhaime’s Chances
Duhaime is a very likable player and a high-energy guy that can bring a lot to a lineup. He’s right on the brink of being a strong scorer consistently but he’s proven to be valuable on the penalty kill. The Wild have a lot of guys to look at re-signing after this coming season and it’s going to be tough to make decisions on who stays and who goes. However, it’ll be easier if players don’t step up and if Duhaime can’t prove his worth, he’ll be searching for another team.
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If Duhaime can do those things, the Wild will want to keep him around longer and they’ll have some more money to throw his way as well, which is something that every player wants. This deal worked out well for both sides and while the Wild may have wanted a longer term, they didn’t have the money to get that done so they did the best they could with what they had. Hopefully, he’ll prove himself worthy and be around for many more seasons to come.
