The Minnesota Wild is on the road tonight for a game against the Seattle Kraken. Tonight marks Ryan Hartman's first game since Feb 1. He has been serving an 8-game suspension for a roughing call on Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle.
It became a long time off for Hartman because of the two week 4 Nations Face-Off break. The Wild came up with a plan for Hartman during his month off of games to get him back into shape and have him stay on top of his game.
"We need Ryan to come back in and play really well for us," Wild head coach John Hynes said. "Obviously he’s had some time off. I do think he’s done a good job of putting some work in on the schedule and the program that we established for him, he put some work into it. But now we need him to play."
Hartman, 30, is coming off his fifth suspension in his career. It was originally a 10-game suspension but it turned into just an 8-game suspension after Hartman appealed it.
It has been a rough season for Hartman. During the season he went 18-consecutive games without a point from Nov 23 to Dec 29 and 20 games without a goal from Nov 21 to Jan 2.
He followed up his 18-straight games without a point with ten points (3G, 7A) in his next 16 games before he got the suspension.
"We need him to come in, and he needs to be an impact," Hynes said. "He’s had some time off, he’s had some time to recalibrate himself and just, I don’t want to say his game because he didn’t play, but conditioning and some skill work. Now we need him to come in and be a factor for us."
The Wild need Hartman to put this behind him and get back to providing the team with some secondary scoring.
Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin said that one way to stop Hartman from getting more suspensions, the team needs to do a better job of controlling Hartman in the moments.
So, does this make it hard for Hartman to play his game knowing the league is watching him?
"That’s what, at times, makes Ryan a good player. It’s getting to that level of emotion and passion to play a certain way," Guerin said. "He knows it more than anybody he has to do a better job. I think maybe we need to do a better job in helping him, so can his teammates in the moment, getting to him and calming him down. That’s a responsibility that we all have, that we can all help him. But there’s no more leeway."
The Wild are excited for Hartman to join them again, but as Guerin said, there is no more leeway. He needs to stay on top of his game and avoid any more discipline from the league.
"Things happen out there, and it's an emotional game," Hartman Said. "Like I said, I want to focus on being a good teammate, winning hockey games for this club and for the city, and making a big playoff push."