The Minnesota Wild report cards have restarted and reached the forwards, with Connor Dewar being the most recent; now it’s time for his nickname buddy, Brandon Duhaime’s turn. Like Dewar, he was also dealt at this past trade deadline, but he went to a division rival in the Colorado Avalanche, which was followed by a short prank war between Duhaime and Marc-André Fleury.
Duhaime was often on the fourth line with Dewar and they both loved to throw hits, especially Duhaime with his big frame. He has shown a lot of potential over the past few seasons but hasn’t been able to take the next step for some reason. Since the Wild missed out on the playoffs, we’ll take a look at a rough part of his game, a great part of his game, and then his grade for the season.
Duhaime’s Lack of Offense
As stated above, Duhaime has shown he can score points, but he hasn’t been able to do so consistently, which is one of the reasons the Wild decided to move on. He played in 62 games for the Wild, scoring four goals and four assists for eight points. He’s not known for putting up a lot of points, but he’s gone on small scoring binges before, and it looked like he’d put up a lot more points than he ended up doing.
It’s great that Duhaime can put up hits, but he needs to find a way to score goals. He has the potential and skills but can’t find the ability to score. When he switched to the Avalanche, he was able to find the spark he needed to record points. In just 18 games, he had five points, including four assists. A change of scenery is what he needed because he couldn’t do those things with the Wild.
The one other area of his game he’ll need to keep under control is his penalty minutes. With the number of hits he throws it’s not surprising he has a higher number of penalty minutes but he can’t overdo it. His teammates need him on the ice and not in the penalty box. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep up his new offensive streak or if he’ll keep with the inconsistent play.
Duhaime’s Defense Makes Up for Offense
While Duhaime has struggled to find his offensive game, his defensive game has been doing okay. Obviously, he’s doing outstanding in the hit department; he was third on the roster with 155 hits, just behind Joel Eriksson Ek, who had 168, and Marcus Foligno, who had the top spot with 179 hits.
However, his hits weren’t the only strong part of his game; he also had 29 blocked shots and 19 takeaways with just 14 turnovers. He’s clearly more of a defensive-minded forward, and while he tries to be offensive, he struggles to keep it going. On the other hand, his defensive game is pretty consistent; he makes mistakes here and there, but overall, he does well.
The penalty kill is the final area of his game in which he’s excelled. He was one of the Wild’s best penalty killers with one shorthanded goal and spent 130:42 on the ice. His efforts on the penalty kill were missed when he was traded away, and they’ll continue to be missed.
Duhaime’s Overall Grade
Duhaime’s game really needs an offensive side, and that will affect his grade, as well as his defensive upside. Since more offense could’ve helped the Wild get closer to the postseason, his grade is a C-. His grade wasn’t higher because he has to find a way to produce more than just defensively. It doesn’t have to be a crazy high number, but he needs to score around 20 or more points per season.
His grade also wasn’t lower because he contributed to the defensive side of things with hits, blocks, and penalty-killing ability. It’ll be interesting to see if he can keep all of these things up and find a way to improve his defensive game with another new team. The Wild traded Duhaime to the Avalanche and then he used free agency to sign with the Washington Capitals who’ll he’ll be playing for this coming season and will have a chance to prove his worth.
