A look back at how Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime played during the 2022-23 season, why they are fixtures in the Wild's bottom six, and what is in store for Dewy 1 and Dewy 2.

Welcome to the offseason series where we will look at each player’s impact this past season, what their future in Minnesota looks like, and what to expect in 2023-24.

Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime got their nicknames, Dewy 1 and Dewy 2, from former Iowa Wild coach Tim Army. They lived together when they were in Iowa and now they are playing in shutdown roles in the NHL.

With a minimum of 100 minutes played together, the Ryan Reaves, Dewar, and Duhaime line led the Wild in the fewest goals allowed, according to Moneypuck.

So how good did they do individually?

Connor Dewar

The 5-foot-10 centerman is exactly what every team needs and wants. Dewar plays a shutdown type of role for the Wild and is one of Minnesota’s top defensive forwards on a team full of them.

Dewar ranked fifth among Wild forwards in EVD behind Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, Mason Shaw, and Kirill Kaprizov. He also ranked fourth among Wild forwards in xGA behind Boldy, Eriksson Ek, and Kaprizov.

He isn’t going to blow you away offensively, but Dewar does a ton of things right defensively, which makes him a very reliable bottom-six forward. Dewar was also a main fixture of the Wild’s penalty kill and with Mason Shaw, the Wild were very effective.

The former third-round pick is in his final year of a two-year, $800K deal and will be a restricted free agent after the season. I would expect Dewar to continue to stick around especially because of the elite defense he plays for the Wild.

Brandon Duhaime

I am very high on Duhaime and think he will continue to get better and better as the years go on. Duhaime to me, is a power forward with some offensive upside. A threat that can play top-9 minutes and score somewhere between 13-18 goals.

Not only is Duhaime already a power forward, but he is also a two-way forward who plays very well defensively. In fact, only Ek, Boldy, and Freddy Gaudreau had a better GA (Goals Against) than Duhaime.

The 6-foot-2 winger ranked fifth among Wild forwards in GF (Goals For) with a minimum of 20 games played. Only Sam Steel, Ryan Hartman, Marcus Johansson, and Kaprizov had a higher GF than Duhaime.

Not only did Duhaime rank top five in GF, but he also did in GA, which proves his two-way type of game.

Both Dewar and Duhaime skate really well which shows us why they are good at what they do. But Duhaime is a restricted free agent right now unlike Dewar.

The Wild currently have just about $9 million to work with this offseason. Now, they could look to move a contract to free up some extra money, but $9 million is what they sit with now.

With that $9 million, the Wild will have to decide what to do with John Klingberg, Matt Dumba, Gustav Nyquist, Oskar Sundqvist, Sam Steel, Mason Shaw, Ryan Reaves, Filip Gustavsson, Calen Addison, and Duhaime.

Obviously, Bill Guerin and his staff can’t re-sign all 10 players, so it will be interesting to see who they sign and don’t sign, considering they need to factor in any players that will be called up throughout the season. 

That being said, I do think Duhaime gets re-signed. In fact, he should be re-signed. A contract for Duhaime shouldn’t be much more than $1.2 million. I could see Duhaime getting a two-year, $1 million (AAV) contract before the 2023-24 season.

Final Thoughts

The point is, both Dewar and Duhaime are fixtures in the Wild’s bottom six, which shouldn’t go unnoticed. Duhaime plays more physically, but they both give the Wild great defensive play and do nothing but help the team.

I would expect both to be on the team next season and provide much-needed defensive depth to the Wild, as the two "Dewys" should be kept around. 

2023-24 Connor Dewar Prediction: 8 goals and 15 assists for 23 points. -Dylan Loucks

2023-24 Brandon Duhaime Prediction: 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points. -Dylan Loucks

2023-24 Connor Dewar Prediction: 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points - Aaron Heckmann

2023-24 Brandon Duhaime Prediction: 11 goals and 5 assists for 16 points - Aaron Heckmann

Data and stats from Evolving Hockey, Moneypuck, and NHLStats.com.