By Tony Abbott -
The Minnesota Wild have always been high on Daemon Hunt, maybe even higher than the rest of the hockey world. This year might not be much different. The Wild coaches and front office loved Hunt throughout the preseason, making a point of making him one of their final cuts.
“I think Huntsy’s taken that next step in his development where he got some games last year, learned some things, played really well down the stretch for Iowa, has come back to this camp and he looks more mature,” John Hynes told The Athletic's Michael Russo on September 28. “He looks physically able to handle the battles, skating looks good, more confident I think in himself and his decisions."
Minnesota sent Hunt down to the Iowa Wild -- it was a numbers game with veterans like Jon Merrill and waivers-eligible Declan Chisholm on the roster -- but it didn't take long for him to come back up I-35. Jared Spurgeon's injury left a door open, and the Wild are taking advantage to give Hunt his first NHL opportunity of the year.
So, what can we expect from the rookie defenseman?
Last season's 12 NHL games didn't give us much to go on, but what he did at Iowa last year shows a lot about what the Wild like in him. Hunt skates well and has a good shot, but he's not a flashy defenseman. However, he's a tough, smart defender who has had to take on a leadership role as a 22-year-old on a young, inexperienced Iowa blueline.
McKeen's Hockey's 2024 Prospect Report praises him as a defenseman who "seems to always find a way to get the job done, even if it’s not always pretty or exciting. If he needs to bear down and defend hard, he can do it. If his team needs a goal and he needs to ramp up the pace, he can do that too. The best way to describe him might be 'low maintenance.'"
That screams out "third-pairing defenseman," but Minnesota seems to have higher hopes for Hunt than that. And they might be right. If you can skate and are smart, you can thrive in the NHL, and Hunt checks those boxes. The 2020 third-round pick even showed some power play utility in the short opportunities he got in the preseason.
The problem is that Hunt's 5-on-5 preseason metrics don't quite align with the hype. According to Natural Stat Trick, Hunt ended the preseason with an Expected Goals For share of just 46.6% at 5-on-5. That ranks 83rd among 132 defensemen with 50-plus preseason minutes. Granted, it's a small sample in the preseason, so we can take this with a grain of salt (after all, superstar Adam Fox's metrics were slightly worse). But it's not incredibly encouraging after watching Hunt struggle last year, controlling just 43.8% of the expected goal share in 138 minutes.
The good news is that Hunt's best preseason showings came in two games against the Chicago Blackhawks, where he faced their NHL squad. One of those games came alongside Spurgeon, and the other came with Chisholm, which might point to his best potential partner in Minnesota.
While most young defensemen are seen as defensively deficient and needing a partner who can cover for them, Hunt may instead need someone who can help him push the tempo. Last season, he spent about 70 minutes combined with Merrill and Zach Bogosian and struggled with each stay-at-home-type defenseman. Despite his mobility and shot, that might be Hunt's role. He's got a reputation for being an old-school defenseman who can lay out huge hits.
The Wild are excited about his potential and offseason, and now we'll see the proof. Minnesota probably isn't recalling Hunt to see him play for a handful of minutes; they'll want to see if he can apply his growth in real NHL regular-season competition. Chances are, we're going to get a much better idea of what the Wild have in Hunt than ever before.
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