Article: Can Ryan Hartman Continue This Level Of Play?

[Thomas Williams]

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[Citizen Strife]

Hartman is a streaky player.  However, he always manages to remind people how good he is right as people start writing him off.

[Pewterschmidt]

If we listed the Wild lineup in order of who’s the biggest problem I’d group 38 special in with the Ek, 97’s and Boldy.  Is he a hot headed idiot sometimes?  Yep, but he’s our hot headed idiot who can finish and rarely mails it in. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Pewterschmidt

[Up North Guy]

Every team needs a rat. Hartman fills that role on the Wild. If he can continue that without taking dumb penalties his value will soar.

[B1GKappa97]

I've never understood why people, not necessarily on here, were so upset that we extended Hartman instead of using him as trade bait last year. The guy is pretty much your ideal middle-6 forward who can play all positions up the lineup if there are injuries and he is exactly who you want playing on your 3rd line in the post-season if you're healthy. 

Getting him for $4M will look great by the end of his contract.

[mnfaninnc]

I pulled this off of Russo's twitter/X account

Quote

Bill Guerin says Jared Spurgeon won’t be on at least the start of the next road trip. The #mnwild GM says this is part of the “healing process” of last year’s back and hip surgeries and he needs rest and maintenance.

So, we're in the play 2 games, take 2 weeks off mode now? I thought he was "healed" coming into the season. To me, this sounds more concerning than just "rest and maintenance." So, does he feel good in 10 days and then plays a couple more games only to need this again? Can we afford this? Can we afford a Kaptain to do this? I realize the guys see the pain he goes through and won't count it against him, but should Spurgy man up and pass the torch on to Ek? 

Does this also mean we will need to carry 8 defenders? If so, that pretty well puts The Wall back in Iowa and Vaj as a backup. Everyone can see we need an extra forward too. We burned through that guy already. 

From a hockey standpoint, at what point should Guerin say "we can't keep doing this" and stick Spurgy on LTIR to do his rest and maintenance until mid-April and go out and get a guy who's available every night? My suggestion was targeting Provorov who I'm pretty sure will not be resigning with CBJ. He might resign here, and was in the same draft year as Kaprizov and Trenin. While he's never played here, a couple of guys would be familiar with his play. 

Guerin was a player. He knows the mid 30s. To this point, he has done a lousy job of telling players when it's over. He's been through it. He knows that the player is the last to know when it's time. With this injury, and quality of life after hockey, it may be time for Spurgy to think about retirement. He's beaten the odds so far and has been a 1st class defender and 1st class human on this team for 15 years. At 5'9" 166, you can only take so much punishment before it's over. We desperately need defender coaches in our organization. 

Perhaps it's time to think of that rather than keep on playing? Perhaps Guerin can make up the lost income of retirement with a decent salary on staff? It really sucks to get to an age where retirement is here, and the other stuff you love to do is no longer a physical option (my experience is speaking here). So, here's my advice to Spurgy: if this will continue to be an issue, walk away while you can still walk. If it's a minor setback, treat it that way but remember, you will be the last to know it's over. Trust the people around you to help you see when it's time.