What Does Calen Addison Need to Do This Season?

The Minnesota Wild announced today that they re-signed defenseman Calen Addison to a one-year, $825,000 contract. Training Camp starts today and the Wild will now have a full roster from the first day.

Addison was extended a qualifying offer by the Wild at the beginning of the summer but he did not sign it. Negotiations were ongoing throughout the offseason. Addison has not played enough games to be eligible for arbitration. The biggest hindrance was the Wild’s cap space. After Addison’s signing, there is only $43,000 in cap space left.

Last Season

Addison made a splash at the beginning of his rookie year after making the team out of training camp. Playing 62 games last season, Addison had 29 points with three goals and 26 assists. Addison’s biggest contribution was quarterbacking the top power-play unit. In fact, 18 of his points last season were scored on the power play.

While his point production was on par with other star rookies, putting Addison in the early talks about winning the Calder Cup, it came at a price. The +/- stat isn’t necessarily the best, but knowing that defense was his downside, the -17 that Addison ended the season with is a bit eye-popping.

Next Season

The defenseman showed his commitment to improving his game by staying in Minnesota over the summer. Addison needs to focus on being more defensive. While he’s a great quarterback for the power play, that can’t be his only job. The Wild don’t have enough cap space to keep a specialist on the roster. 

As the first two Wild defensive pairings seem set, Addison will be on the third pair. That means he will play next to either Jon Merrill or Alex Goligoski. Both Merrill and Goligoski are more defensive than offensive. That means that Addison can still jump up in play and take the puck to the net. He just needs to remember that he’s a defenseman first.

What Comes After This Season?

Addison signed a one-year deal. That probably means that he’s betting on himself and his performance this year to lead to a bigger contract next year. That should be enough motivation to really tweak the defensive aspects of his game. Addison’s performance will determine whether he continues wearing a Wild sweater after this season.