The Minnesota Wild decided to do something few have been able to in the salary cap era, they brought back a former player for their second stint with the club. So as Chris Stewart looks to start his second go with the Wild it looks like this time we’ll see a different and more successful Stewart.
It’s a rare thing but sometimes in the NHL a player makes it back to a team they had left in their rearview mirror. In the non-salary cap era it was even common for a player to be traded at the deadline, then turn around in the offseason and sign right back with the team that traded him (think Doug Weight in 2005-06). The constraints of the cap seem to have ushered in an era whereby a team parts ways with a player never to be heard from again. Yet the Minnesota Wild decided to buck the new normal and gave Chris Stewart another shot with the club only a season removed from his departure.
Last offseason was very tough for the Wild as they only had a very small amount of salary cap space in which to shore up Devan Dubnyk and Mikael Granlund. There wasn’t enough money for much else, so Stewart a trade deadline acquisition seemed expendable. Still the Wild offered Stewart a contract offer with every little wiggle room, and in the end another suitor came calling in the form of the Anaheim Ducks who inked him for a one-year deal worth $1.7 million.
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Stewart’s season in California was solid, but alas he would still put up a career low in points in his eight season NHL in his career. Still when the time came for him to get a new contract, he followed his Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau over to Minnesota signing up for a second term with the Wild and Boudreau. So what will be different this time for Stewart in the State of Hockey?
First and foremost, it’s a full season for Stewart to play with the Wild and his new mates. Also add to that the fact that many of the current Wild have already played with Stewart in his first stint. Joining a team in a deadline deal is always hard as the expectations are always through the roof. For Stewart he faced some hard expectations as he was expected to put up points right away despite being put into a new situation with new teammates.
This time he’ll be in a situation with a coach who knows his strengths and weaknesses and how to get the best out of him. He’ll have a chance to play with his line mates from the beginning and learn their strengths and weaknesses and how to best play to them. He won’t have to play on one of the top lines like he did before, the expectation of being a fourth line forward who can move up and down the lineup if needed is important. Now he can relax and not have to necessarily produce points, he’ll just be expected to use his energy wherever needed.
Stewart was certainly brought in for his play, but the most important attribute he’s needed for is his leadership. The Wild of last year seemed to have an element that the Wild of Stewart’s tenure did not have, some disharmony in the locker room. Everywhere Stewart has been, he’s been described as a great teammate. Boudreau said that Stewart would stand up for anyone of his teammates on the ice and “makes everybody else bigger on the team.” His need will be mostly to infuse a better team sense and champion the culture of Bruce Boudreau he saw work first hand in Anaheim.
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The biggest difference though for Stewart is that he chose the Wild. As he explained to Michael Russo after his signing “I’m ecstatic. Best fans I’ve ever played in front of in my life. The decision was easy.” That says he’s excited to be here and learned from last time that being in Minnesota is great place to play. The odds are he would have re-upped with the Wild originally had they had the money to keep him. Now he’s back in a situation he really wants to be in team, coach, and contract wise the odds are we could see an even better Stewart than the one that was in Minnesota in 2014-15.
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The second time around in Minnesota will be better for Stewart. The real issue is why he ever left in the first place. It was economics that made Stewart part ways with the Wild for the Ducks. It was the idea of playing hockey in the right situation in Minnesota that brought him back. When a player knows things are right that tends to be all they need to make a special season.