It was a day before Thanksgiving last year when the Minnesota Wild general manager decided he had seen enough of his swagger-less and lethargic team and acquired winger Ryan Reaves from the New York Rangers for a 2025 fifth-round pick.

Reaves, now with the Toronto Maple Leafs, is known for fighting, but Guerin said the decision to make the move was more about Reaves’ “big personality” than it was about his ability to use his fists.

“He’s got a lot of energy,” Guerin told Michael Russo of The Athletic. “He’s got swagger. We’ve been missing that. The energy he brings is really good. … He’s going to help us get our identity back.”

Reaves provided the Wild with a spark, even before he arrived. On the day the trade was announced, the Wild cruised to a 6-1 victory over Winnipeg to improve to 9-8-2 on the season. Reaves gave the Wild plenty of swagger as the team finished third in the Central Division with 103 points.

The Wild replaced Reaves with a more skilled, big-body presence in winger Patrick Maroon this offseason and a plan to keep their swagger for 82 games. But since shutting out Florida, 2-

Ryan Reaves against Winnipeg in 2022. He helped give the Wild some swagger last season. (MHM file photo)

0, on opening night at Xcel Energy Center, the Wild have gone 2-4-2 and are coming off an East Coast trip in which they lost to Philadelphia, Washington (in a shootout) and New Jersey.

Oh, and the swagger that Reaves brought with him? That’s disappeared. Wild center Ryan Hartman told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Devils that, “When we’re playing well, we play with that swagger.”

An argument can be made that it’s too early for anyone to panic, but Guerin knows what got his team out of its funk last season and you have to wonder if he is again willing to wait until Thanksgiving before making a move?

Injuries have sidelined defenseman and captain Jared Spurgeon since the start of the season and wingers Matt Boldy and Frederick Gaudreau also are out, although Boldy is expected to return soon.

But the Wild’s early-season issues go beyond injuries.

The power play and penalty kill both struggled in the Wild’s opening-round playoff loss to Dallas last season and not much has changed, even though Minnesota brought in former Vancouver Canucks assistant Jason King to run its power play.

The Wild are 5-for-36 on the power play and their 13.9 percentage is ranked 22nd in the league. The Wild’s penalty kill is worse. Much worse. That unit ranks second-to-last in the NHL, giving up nine goals on 28 chances for a 67.9% kill rate. Last season the Wild surrendered nine goals on 24 chances in six games against the Stars in the playoffs.

The Devils, whose power play is the best in the NHL at 42.4 percent, toyed with the Wild on Sunday in going 2-for-3. The Wild had six power plays and only scored once.

One of the biggest surprises is that newly appointed alternate captain Kirill Kaprizov has yet to show the consistency expected from a superstar. He had no points and was a minus-4 on the road trip and has only two goals in nine games.

The Wild’s first line of Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Hartman each have nine points — tied for second on the team behind Joel Eriksson Ek’s 10 — but they also are a combined minus-10 and their performance in a brutal loss against the Flyers left coach Dean Evason infuriated.

Marco Rossi against the Florida Panthers in this season’s home opener. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The idea has been floated of replacing Hartman with third-line center Marco Rossi, who is finally delivering on what was expected of him when he was selected with the ninth pick of the 2020 draft.

Rossi spent the offseason getting bigger and stronger and now looks like he belongs in the NHL. He has three goals and four points in nine games and would give the first line a more skilled player than the hard-working Hartman, whose six goals lead the Wild.

Putting Rossi with Kaprizov and Zuccarello could present Evason with an opportunity to inform Zuccarello that his need to overpass the puck to Kaprizov can end. Rossi also could replace Zuccarello on the power play, especially since the veteran has yet to score with the man advantage this season.

Of course, Evason could look to Guerin to shake up things if they don’t improve soon. Spurgeon’s return will help on the blue line, but to think he will give the Wild their swagger back is a stretch.

The Wild’s salary-cap situation makes any type of major move nearly impossible, but obtaining Reaves a year ago did the trick without causing any issues. If the Wild’s play doesn’t pick up soon, it won’t be surprising if Guerin decides a repeat performance is in order.

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In the 11 games before Kaprizov’s injury, the left winger had accounted for eight of the Wild’s 25 goals during a stretch in which they went 9-0-2. Kaprizov had 39 goals and 74 points in 65 games. He was the Wild’s offense.

So what now?

Matt Boldy sets up new linemate Marcus Johansson for an early Minnesota lead over Boston on Saturday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The latest answer came Sunday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center as winger Matt Boldy recorded a hat trick in a 5-3 victory over the Washington Capitals. That gave the Wild 24 goals during a five-game stretch in which they are 3-1-1 and have improved to 12-1-3 since coming out of the All-Star Break and their bye week with a 1-4-1 record that had many wondering if Minnesota would make the playoffs.

If you’re doing the math, the Wild were averaging 2.3 goals per game in the stretch before their best player got hurt. In the five games without him, they are averaging 4.8 goals. Boldy, long encouraged to shoot more and pass less, has five goals in those five games.

Trade-deadline acquisitions Marcus Johansson, who has had great chemistry with Boldy, has two goals and seven points and Oskar Sundqvist has two goals and three points. Even big winger Ryan Reaves, who wasn’t obtained to score goals and didn’t get his first of the season until Feb. 28 against the Islanders, has three goals and five points in his last five.

No one is going to say the Wild doesn’t miss Kaprizov, but guys who might have been waiting around for him to score goals, have realized they must do more.

“I think you look at our lineup, up and down the lineup,” Reaves said. “Everybody is contributing in different ways. If you look at Kirill, he leads our team in points, but he goes to the dirty areas. He’s not afraid to get dirty, not afraid to get in the corners, and bump a body once in a while. When you’ve got a guy like that doing it, then it kind of trickles down to the whole lineup and then we’ve got some big bodies that just like to play that game. Those guys are contributing, too, so it’s just kind of a collective effort right now.”

Wild winger Oskar Sundqvist celebrates his second goal in a Minnesota sweater since his March 3 acquisition from the Detroit Red Wings in the third period of Saturday’s loss to the Bruins. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Evason wanted to make it clear, even after Boldy’s big day, that the “collective effort” Reaves is talking about is emphasized.

“The team has stepped up, not just a few guys,” he said. “Everybody. I don’t think they sat in there and went, ‘Guys, we have to score now.’ They always try to score. With his absence they all know that there’s a little extra push that needed to be had because literally he’s playing half the game so there’s opportunities for people, too. People have been able to step up, but I think (that means) people being the entire Minnesota Wild hockey team.”

The Wild also are beginning to get healthy. Their 14-game point streak came to an end on Saturday in St. Paul with a 5-2 loss to the NHL-leading Boston Bruins. Minnesota had two goals wiped out by offsides reviews and the Bruins added an empty-net goal to increase their margin of victory. There was no hangover from that loss on Sunday against a Capitals team that looks as if it will miss the playoffs.

It was a tremendous help that defensemen Jake Middleton and Jonas Brodin returned after absences and enabled Evason to scratch Calen Addison and veteran Jon Merrill after they formed the third defensive pairing against the Bruins.

Middleton, acquired from the Sharks at the 2022 trade deadline, has proven to be a tremendous fit on the top pairing with Jared Spurgeon. Brodin, who returned for six games in February after sitting out two, had missed 12 more after presumably re-injuring himself. Brodin’s extended absence this time was probably due to the fact that the Wild wanted to make sure his lower-body injury healed this time.

Winger Brandon Duhaime also returned against the Capitals and scored what proved to be the game-winning goal. Winger Marcus Foligno could be in the lineup before the week is out and the Wild are hoping to get another trade-deadline pickup, winger Gustav Nyquist, back from a shoulder injury in time for the postseason.

Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren can only watch as Brandon Duhaime’s eventual game winner settles into the Washington net on Sunday afternoon. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Then there is Kaprizov. The Wild might be winning without him right now — Minnesota was a point behind Dallas for the Central Division lead after Sunday’s games — but if this team has any shot at making a deep run into the postseason, No. 97 will have to be flying around the ice.

But will other now more confident players be less reliant on Kaprizov being the guy that they expect to bail them out?

“He’s going to score and we’re going to need him to score for sure,” Reaves said. “When the playoffs start, Kirill is going to start getting checking lines, especially on the road and that’s when the rest of the guys need to step up. I think we talked about this last little stretch. 

“It’s got to be a playoff atmosphere in the room, on the ice for us. We’ve got to start putting a playoff type game onto the ice every night because it’s hard to just float into the playoffs and say we’re going to amp it up. That’s not how it works. I think right now we’re starting to figure that out and put good games together.”

Kaprizov’s return should only help.

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The Wild had a franchise-record 113 points thanks to 11 overtime wins, nine multi-goal comeback victories and an offense that finished fifth in the NHL by averaging 3.72 goals per game. That success — driven in large part by Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala — enabled the Wild to get away with finishing 16th in the league in goals given up per game (3.04).

Problem is Fiala’s 33 goals and 85 points were now in Los Angeles and the Wild’s attempts to get cute with the puck, and shirk defensive responsibilities, had resulted in an 0-3 start in which they were outscored 20-12. That eventually became a 7-8-2 start before the Wild accepted that other than Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, no one else on the roster had the ability to try to make skilled plays.

The Wild have rebounded nicely since a bad loss to Jake Guentzel and the Pens on Nov 17. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Coach Dean Evason finally got this message through after a 6-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 17 at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild have won 14 of 19 games since that time. This includes winning streaks of four and six games.

A 5-2 victory over the host St. Louis Blues on New Year’s Eve put the Wild at 21-13-2 and third in the Central Division with 44 points in 36 games, trailing Dallas (52 points in 38 games) and Winnipeg (47 points in 37 games).

So what is the biggest thing that has changed?

In the Wild’s first 17 games, they surrendered 3.12 goals per game — a higher figure than they gave up last season. That wasn’t going to work since the Wild was only scoring 2.8 goals per game. But Evason’s team has flipped the numbers since their hot stretch began and are now averaging 3.14 goals per game and giving up 2.81. The latter figures puts them 11th in the NHL and the former 18th.

It helps that the Wild have gotten healthy with Ryan Hartman and Jordan Greenway returning and Matt Dumba’s play on the blue line improved after a rough start. Defenseman Jared Spurgeon continues to be an important presence, almost always making the right play at the right time in front of Marc-Andre Fleury or Filip Gustavsson. The Wild also added a much-needed presence to the locker room in late November by acquiring winger Ryan Reaves from the New York Rangers.

Reaves has settled into a spot on the fourth line and while he only has four assists in 17 games since joining the Wild, his large presence (6-2, 225 pounds) accomplishes a couple of things. The 35-year-old winger gives the team the type of personality and vocal leader that seemed to be lacking. On the ice, Reaves’ presence creates extra space for everyone because no one wants to fight a guy who has dropped the gloves 77 times in his 13-year career.

Ryan Reeves has had a subtle, but effective, impact on the Wild since his Nov. 23 arrival from New York. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

Reaves only fight since arriving on Nov. 23  came against the Red Wings’ Ben Chiarot and that was only because Chiarot was spontaneously sticking up for a teammate that Reaves had crushed. Reaves easily won the fight in a Wild victory, one of 12 he has been around for since being acquired.

The most recent victory — the Wild will play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday — was in St. Louis. The Wild have had their struggles against the Blues, including being eliminated by St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs last season, but beat them in St. Louis during the regular season for the first time since November 2018. Hartman, who has only played in 15 games, scored twice to bring his total to four goals and is playing on a work-man like line with center Frederick Gaudreau and winger Matt Boldy. Third-line winger Marcus Foligno and fourth-line center Mason Shaw also returned from injury-related absences in St. Louis.

“I think some teams can be one line, two lines, three lines, we can’t. We’re a four-line team,” Evason said. “Sure, Kirill, Zuccy, Steeler (first-line center Sam Steel) get a little bit more, or Kirill and Zuccy get 20 minutes a night, but after that the distribution of our minutes are pretty even and that’s how we have to play. We want to roll like that. We want to play as a group and a team. The nice thing is the players are committed to that as well.”

The St. Louis win was impressive in part because it came two nights after the Wild lost, 4-1, to the Stars at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota’s first defeat at home in more than a month was the result of giving up three third-period goals against a more opportunistic opponent. Evason, who had been searching for answers early in the season, had no such problem after this defeat and was rewarded in St. Louis.

“This is a tough building,” Evason said ending 2022 with a victory. “I don’t care what (the Blues’) record is at. It’s a good team, they’re good players, they’re well coached. I think everybody was motivated to see where we’re at and we’re excited with the outcome.”

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So why did general manager Bill Guerin want to acquire a winger who will be playing for his fifth team in 13 seasons and is known more as a pugilist than a hockey player? Because Reaves provides energy, a big personality and a swagger that the Wild had been missing. Those were Guerin’s words and he’s hoping Reaves’ presence, a big one at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, will impact the Wild on and off the ice.

While Reaves couldn’t get out of the press box in New York, he immediately joined a line centered by Joel Eriksson Ek with Marcus Foligno on the other wing. Reaves had no points and was a minus-1 with two penalty minutes in 12 minutes, 3 seconds of ice time in his Wild debut in a 4-3 loss to Toronto on the day after Thanksgiving at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild rebounded for a 4-3 win over visiting Arizona on Sunday as Reaves was a plus-1 in 14:54 of playing time.

How long coach Dean Evason will leave Reaves on this line — Jordan Greenway has returned from injury and often has played with Eriksson Ek and Foligno — remains to be seen. There also will be opponents where it might make more sense to get a faster winger into the lineup at Reaves’ expense.

But Guerin’s decision to make this trade spoke volumes about just how passive the Wild had been this season. There are likely a variety of factors for this. The Wild have some scrappy players, especially on the fourth line, but they weren’t that big of team and certainly didn’t seem that tough to play against. Reaves will change that and also free up Foligno of being the resident tough guy.

One of the 12 games Ryan Reaves dressed for New York this season was the Wild’s season-opening 7-3 loss to the Rangers on Oct. 13 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Foligno had a career-high 23 goals in 74 games last season, but has only three in 16 games this year. Two of those came against Winnipeg last Wednesday on the day in which Reaves was acquired. Last March, Guerin traded a 2023 third-round pick to Anaheim for tough-guy winger Nicolas Deslauriers. The trade didn’t work out as hoped, and the Wild was eliminated by St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs, before Deslauriers signed a four-year, $7 million free agent deal with the Flyers in the offseason.

While Deslauriers appeared to be a good fit in the locker room, that acquisition was based on trying to make the team tougher against opponents and give Foligno some assistance. The Reaves trade has more to do with providing an internal spark to a group that has felt blah at times.

Why the Wild lost their swagger isn’t exactly clear. The loss of winger Kevin Fiala cost Minnesota a goal scorer but it’s not as if Fiala was seen as a leader. Reaves’ addition will be similar to when the Timberwolves added Patrick Beverley last season. Beverley might not have been the Wolves’ best player but he was the most demanding when it came to effort and he knew how to hold guys accountable.

The Rangers acquired Reaves from Vegas in July 2021 because they needed a veteran with swagger in their locker room at that time. The fact opponents are always aware when Reaves is on the ice probably doesn’t hurt either.

Guerin still would like to find a top six forward who can score — that won’t be easy given the Wild’s salary cap situation — but, even if that happens, this doesn’t appear close to being the team that had a franchise-record 113 points last season. The playoff race in the Western Conference is shaping up to be closely contested and the Wild showing more spark would be help.

“(Reaves is) a big personality,” Guerin told reporters. “I think right now, that’s something our team really needs. I mean, we’ve always had good guys, good teammates, and things like that. I just feel like we could use you know, a little shot of that, and I think he definitely supplies it.”

For a fifth-round pick, it’s worth the gamble that Reaves will help the Wild get their mojo back.

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