Minnesota Wild, Ryan Hartman close to contract extension

Ryan Hartman and the Minnesota Wild are close to signing a three-year contract extension, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Friday. He expects the deal will be worth around $4 million per year.

Hartman is entering the final year of a three-year deal he signed in April 2021. Last season, Hartman scored 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points in 59 games.

It’s been a busy week for the State of Hockey’s NHL franchise. On Sept. 29, the Wild signed Marcus Foligno to a four-year extension worth $16 million, as well as Mats Zuccarello to a two-year extension with an annual average salary of $4.125 million.

This will be Hartman’s third contract with Minnesota. Before signing his current deal, he signed a two-year, $3.8 million deal with the Wild on the opening day of free agency in 2019.

Hartman had developed a reputation for playing a physical game, providing a bit of sandpaper in an NHL roster’s bottom-six. In the last two seasons, however, the Wild have given Hartman every opportunity to flourish as an offensive weapon, putting him on a line with Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov.

In 2021-22, he scored a career-high 34 goals, 31 assists and 65 points.

Before then, Hartman’s career high in points was 31, achieved twice in 2016-17 and 2017-18 with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Drafted 30th overall by Chicago in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Hartman has played 506 career NHL games with four teams, including the Blackhawks, the Nashville Predators, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Wild.

In nine NHL seasons, Hartman has 107 goals, 126 assists, 233 points and has racked up 505 penalty minutes.