Minnesota Wild: Stewart Fills An Important Role for The Wild

Chris Stewart signed Friday to join the Minnesota Wild for his second stint with the team.  The power forward with versatile skills has the leadership and experience that will go a long way to re-tooling the Wild and setting them on a consistent course this season.

When Chris Stewart joined the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline of the 2014-15 season, he actually was informed while on air giving an interview to TSN.  At the time his reaction may have seemed a bit unexcited, but Stewart ended up being a part of a turned around Wild team that turned in the best record of the second half of the NHL season and made the second round of the playoffs.  His departure after only a little less than half a season in Minnesota seemed premature as the Wild had very little wiggle room in the salary cap and even made Stewart a contract offer which he rejected to sign a one-year deal with the Ducks.

In a swing of fate Stewart has made his way back to Minnesota Friday as he inked a two-year $2.3 million contract.  His signing was largely overshadowed by the other moves in the NHL to include the Wild’s acquisition of center Eric Staal.  Looking at the needs of the Wild it can be said that the signing of Stewart is every bit as important as the signing of Staal.

Most would point to the lack of scoring by the Wild forwards as the number one and only concern that needed to be addressed in the forward unit.  The truth is the Wild were also needing to upgrade their fourth line and penalty kill.  With the group of Jarret Stoll, Chris Porter, and Ryan Carter largely under performing, and most likely not being returned to the club, the Wild need to re-build that fourth-line group from the ground up.  Stewart was a key start to that re-building effort.

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With Tyler Graovac and Zac Dalpe now re-signed as well, the Wild are looking for a more veteran presence to lead them.  Stewart is that veteran presence and will also add another 10 plus goals to the Wild roster.  On the penalty kill he’ll be asked to eat big minutes and will be a huge piece as Scott Stevens looks to re-build that unit and introduce his new scheme.

Of course there’s a reason for a bit of doubt.  Stewart’s last stint with the Wild had a good team result but a weak individual result.  Stewart in the 2014-15 playoffs only notched two assists in eight games which caused some critics to chime up and wonder if the second round pick the Wild used to acquire him was well spent.   He was noted as a strong team player, but just seemed to struggle in the playoffs.

So why is it that the Wild can expect more out of Stewart this time?  Enter Bruce Boudreau to fix that, along some found memories of his time with the Wild.  Stewart explains to Michael Russo in the Star Tribune the Wild fans are the “Best fans I’ve ever played in front of in my life. The decision was easy. Now that they’ve got Bruce back there is a bonus. He’s just a hockey guy, you can approach him and talk to him man to man. He played the game and understands the game. He’s easy to relate to and commands respect.”

“Anybody that was picked on, he would go right up to them and he knew how to handle it for us. He makes everybody else bigger on the team.” – Wild Head Coach Bruce Boudreau on Chris Stewart, via Star Tribune

Stewart is motivated to play for the Wild and Boudreau which is a great start for someone who plays the game with such emotion.  He’s a great influence in the locker room and an excellent teammate.  Boudreau explained that Stewart “stood up for everybody. Anybody that was picked on, he would go right up to them and he knew how to handle it for us. He makes everybody else bigger on the team.”

Stewart gives the Wild have another leader and a player who’s a positive presence.  The issues of last year seemed to revolve around accountability, and Stewart will be another key piece to turn that around.  He’s a player who is accountable to himself and his teammates and will expect the same from everyone on the roster.  That lack of an accountability culture was every bit as important to fix as was the scoring issues on the team, and might have even been the real cause of the meltdown of last season.

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So as Stewart starts his second go with the Wild, both the team and the player will be in a situation that they are enthusiastic about.  It takes a bunch of role players to make a successful team, and Stewart was a role player the Wild definitely needed.   As veteran player he’ll be leaned on and ready for whatever the Wild ask him to do.  As he said to Russo “I’m always one to come in and earn my role, I can go up and down the lineup, I can play with top players and can bring that physical and energy side. Whatever they need from me has kind of been my MO. Power play if they need it. I know I can contribute in this league if I get the opportunity.”