Here's the latest on Ryan Hartman's potential return
The Minnesota Wild have been without Ryan Hartman as he continues to rehab from an upper-body injury, but according to The Athletic's Michael Russo, his return remains up in the air.
In an article written along with fellow Athletic writer Joe Smith, Russo reports that Hartman began skating this week "to get his legs back in working order," but the Wild haven't offered an official timetable on his return. Russo states the reason for no timetable is because the Wild are "only hopeful" that Hartman can return at some point.
"The decision was made for Hartman to rehab the injury naturally," Russo wrote. "But nobody knows whether that’ll work or if he’ll ultimately need surgery."
Hartman's absence has already been bad news for the WIld as Minnesota has averaged just 2.76 goals in the 13 games since his injury. Taking out the 18 goals the Wild scored in the past four games, that number drops to two goals per game. By comparison, the Wild averaged 3.4 goals in nine games with Hartman in the lineup.
Since Hartman's injury, the Wild have been scrambling to find a top-line center. Sam Steel started on the top line between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello in Thursday night's win over the Edmonton Oilers and has three goals in his past five games. Frederick Gaudreau has also spent time on the top line and scored on Thursday night.
Even if Steel and Gaudreau pick up their games, the Wild's depth at center is an issue. Joel Eriksson Ek is a solid piece, but not a top-line center, and Connor Dewar is projected as more of a bottom-six forward.
With 2020 first-round pick Marco Rossi recently sent down to the AHL, Smith states that the Wild could be in the trade market for a center if Hartman isn't able to return. That's an issue as most No. 1 centers are either unavailable or carry a high asking price.
That means the Wild will either have to hope that Thursday's 5-3 performance over the Oilers wasn't an outlier, or that Hartman will be able to return to the lineup in the near future.
