Minnesota Wild: Ryan Suter Nearing A Return

Ryan Suter looks to be raring to go for the start of a new campaign with the Minnesota Wild, after seeing his seeing his season shut down due to a nasty ankle injury.

As reported on NHL.com, Suter wanted to play in the recent Stars & Stripes Showdown charity game. New Minnesota Wild General Manager, Paul Fenton advised against it, unfortunately for the defenseman.

However, he remains confident of making training camp, albeit maybe skipping out on the coach Bruce Boudreau’s gruelling physical testing.

"“Everyone’s expecting me not to be back,” he said, smiling. “Might as well milk it a little bit.” (NHL.com)"

Either way, whether he’s back on day one of camp or day six, this can only be good news to Minnesota Wild fans. Here you have a player that is still clearly the team’s number one defenseman.

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He may be getting older, but he still offered up 51 points across 78 games last season, 23 of which came on the power-play. He never shirked responsibility either, matched up against tough competition the whole time.

As assessed in our season preview, he may actually benefit from the emergence of Matt Dumba and the growth of guys like Nick Seeler.

There’s a chance he can see a little less ice time which would certainly not be a boon to his fitness should we be making the play-offs once more.

Year-on-year, he’s always good for about 40 points and last year should hopefully prove an anomaly in terms of plus/minus. Suter has almost always been a positive player, so his -1 last year sticks out somewhat. However, with the competition he faces, it can be forgiven.

His return to action is vital for the Minnesota Wild; it’s safe to say they struggled come playoff time and that was partly due to the lack of his presence on the blue-line.

They’d be wise to bubble-wrap him somewhat if we’re in contention this year; an injured Suter isn’t what you’re after heading into the intensity of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

More than anything, he offers a calming presence on the young guys in the room. He has been around the game long enough to impart some great knowledge on the new breed of defenseman breaking through.

His return is more important to the Minnesota Wild than we may realise. Hopefully we’ll be seeing him out there, fit and ready on opening night.