If Vinnie Hinostroza Can Replace Ryan Hartman, Why Do the Wild Have Ryan Hartman?

The Chicago Blackhawks took Vinnie Hinostroza in the sixth round of the 2012 draft. A year later, they drafted Ryan Hartman in the first. Hinostroza grew up in Chicago and played at Notre Dame. Hartman is also from Chicago and played for an OHL team in suburban Detroit.

Hinostroza grew up in Bartlett, a west Chicago suburb 20 minutes from Hartman’s hometown of West Dundee. They grew up Blackhawks fans who became friends playing AAA youth hockey on the Chicago Mission. Hinostroza and Hartman reunited on Chicago’s AHL team in Rockford, Ill., and later were roommates with the Blackhawks. 

They became so close that Hinostroza stood at Hartman’s wedding. 

However, had the Wild acted callously, they might not be teammates in Minnesota.

The Wild claimed Hinostroza off waivers after placing Jakub Lauko on injured reserve. Lauko is trying to heal a nagging lower-body issue, and the league suspended Ryan Hartman for ten games after he drove Tim Stützle’s head into the ice after a faceoff. 

Hinostroza is a low-risk, high-reward pickup for a team that needs cost-effective depth. He was the AHL’s leading scorer when the Nashville Predators called him up on December 30. However, he only had two assists in 13 games before Nashville waived him. 

Hinostroza was a productive NHL player early in his career but has recently shuttled between the AHL and NHL. He scored 13 goals in his first two full seasons in Chicago, 16 with the Arizona Coyotes in 2018-19, and 13 with the Buffalo Sabres in 2021-22. However, in the past two seasons, he has only scored three goals in 40 games with Buffalo and the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

Still, Hinostroza did something in his first game after the Wild claimed him off waivers that Minnesota hadn’t done in two games and Hartman hadn’t done since January 15.

He scored a goal.

“It’s something that he’s shown to have the ability of in the NHL and at the American League level, wherever he’s played,” Hynes said regarding Hinostroza, who has 55 goals and 154 points in 388 NHL games. “I’d probably say the last couple of weeks that the guys [who] are playing in the nine through 12 roles have brought…some depth scoring on the road trip, and we got it again tonight.”

The Wild need depth scoring with Kirill Kaprizov out, and they haven’t gotten it from Hartman. Minnesota signed Hartman to a three-year, $12 million extension before opening night a year ago. The extension didn’t kick in until this season, meaning he has two years and $8 million left on his contract. 

Hartman has seven goals and 17 points in 48 games this year. He had a career-high 34 goals in 2021-22. However, he played on Kaprizov’s line. Replacement (or sub-replacement) level players have been productive with Kaprizov. Victor Rask had ten goals playing with Kaprizov in 2020-21. The Wild moved on from him a year later, and he has played the last two seasons in Switzerland.

Bill Guerin may not have buyer’s remorse with Hartman, but he expressed concern about him.

“I do worry about him,” Guerin said. “[Hartman is] one of my players. He’s got to do a better job. He’s worked at it. I know he has. We’ve had a lot of discussions about it.

“Look, he just can’t do it.”

Still, Hartman’s latest transgression isn’t an isolated incident. In November 2023, he slew-footed Alex DeBrincat. A month later, Cole Perfetti said Hartman told him he’d throw a high stick during a faceoff. (Hartman later denied Perfetti’s allegations.) Hartman also threw a stick at an official in April 2024, earning a three-game suspension. 

It’s a concerning pattern of behavior for any player, but especially for a 30-year-old forward who’s under contract for two more years and isn’t providing the secondary scoring Minnesota needs. 

Hinostroza only needs six goals and 16 points in Minnesota’s remaining 27 games to match Hartman’s totals. Odds are, he won’t, given his recent track record. Still, unless Hartman scores more and plays more disciplined hockey, the Wild would be better off with a bottom-six player on a better contract.

Hartman may be a great hang off the ice; Hinostroza’s friendship with him indicates as much. However, he’s become a detriment on it. Hartman has become one of many veteran contracts that have weighed the Wild down over the past two seasons.

It’s only one game in an inconsistent Wild season. Still, Minnesota beat the Carolina Hurricanes because Hinostroza did something Hartman hasn’t since mid-January.

He scored a goal.