This next season seems to be a make-or-break for Freddy Gaudreau. He had a terrible start to the 2023-24 season followed by Dean Evason, a longtime mentor and supporter of Gaudreau, being given the boot after the team fell flat on their face out of the starting gate. But the two seasons before that were career years for Gaudreau. Which type of season will he have this year?
Last Season
Gaudreau had a legitimate reason for a terrible season. In just the second game of the season, former Wild teammate Ryan Reaves laid a legal, but nasty mid-ice hit that left Gaudreu hurting for the rest of the season with bruised ribs. After that game, Gaudreau didn’t look like himself for the rest of the season, but somehow he still managed to play 67 games. While he probably would’ve liked a bit more time to rehab, there were other teammates with bigger and worse injuries who had to sit out. In those 67 games, he only put up 15 points (5 goals and 10 assists). The year before, he played all 82 games and had 38 points (19 goals and 19 assists).
Strengths
There are too many complaints about not seeing Gaudreau out there or not recognizing the things that he contributes. Looking further back than last year (because of the injury mentioned above), Gaudreau’s biggest strength is that he’s a defense-first forward who usually has a bit of goal-scoring upside. If he can get back to his usual self after an extra-long offseason, then he might punch his ticket to stay the length of his contract with the Wild.
Gaudreau also had the best faceoff percentage of the Wild centers and was dependable to take faceoffs. Obviously, Joel Eriksson Ek takes the most high-danger faceoffs or the most important faceoffs. But after him, Gaudreau had a 49.9% faceoff percentage, which was the highest last season.
Weaknesses
First of all, his terrible 2023-24 season is obviously a good look. But in a usual season, his weakness is that when he’s at his best, he isn’t obvious. Gaudreau is good at keeping the play in the offensive zone and setting up his fellow forwards to get something going. He is right at home in the middle six. But there have been times when he’s been off of his game or playing up in the playoff and then he struggles to keep up the defense.
Next Season
The bad news is that if Gaudreau can’t get his game back up to where it has been previously, he’s likely to be out of Minnesota. But the good news is that if he ends up moving, he now has a pretty certain target. Evason found a head coaching job with the Columbus Blue Jackets. While he can’t make a trade on his own, he would absolutely put in a good word for Gaudreau to be traded to them from Minnesota.
Things that Gaudreau needs to do this season:
- Keep healthy or take adequate recovery time if injured.
- Start scoring early and often
- Keep the faceoff wins coming.
Freddy Gaudreau is a good player and a great guy, but he needs to make sure that he doesn’t overthink things. Everyone has a bad year, but what’s important for Gaudreau is putting that bad season behind him and turning over a new leaf. When he signed his contract extension, it was absolutely deserved. Hopefully, he can show that he’s still deserving of it.
For more Minnesota Wild news and vibe checks, listen to Her Wild Side Hockey Podcast.
