Frederick Gaudreau returns to Wild revitalized and excited for upcoming season

After months on the ice during hockey season, it’s as if Wild forward Frederick Gaudreau uses the summer to defrost.

He spends “as much time in nature as possible,” hiking and biking in his native Quebec.

But before he could return to Canada, Gaudreau had to wait for his son to secure a passport. Gaudreau and his wife, Kjersten, welcomed Félix into their family in April, and five months later the milestones are adding up on what feels like a daily basis.

“Wait, you weren’t doing that yesterday,” Gaudreau said. “Yeah, it’s crazy changes every day.”

Being outside and settling into fatherhood, however, weren’t all Gaudreau did during the break.

He also contemplated a challenging season with the Wild and then closed the book on it, showing up to training camp revitalized and eager to get back to hockey.

“I feel good,” Gaudreau said. “I’ve worked extremely hard for that. I came prepared, and I’m excited. I love this group. I love this team. I’ve always said that, and I still do. Throughout the adversity, I never questioned that.”

Of all the Wild players coming off down years, no one probably needed a reset more than Gaudreau.

Not only did he experience a steep decline in production, going from a career-high 19 goals in 2022-23 to a mere five, but Gaudreau was also injured — all while he was at the outset of a five-year, $10.5 million contract indicative of how much he and the Wild gelled since his arrival in 2021.

Until last season, that is.

“It was no surprise it was a tough season for me,” said Gaudreau, 31. “Just a lot of adversity. That gets tough mentally, too, when you face things like that. But overall, it’s been a lot of growth.”

Gaudreau doesn’t pride himself on statistics: To him, a job well done is having a shift that turns momentum in the Wild’s favor.

He can do that by being strong defensively and using his stick to force turnovers.

“I’m just focusing on building up my energy and playing the game the right way and letting the rest of the stuff happen,” Gaudreau said.

Coach John Hynes agrees that if Gaudreau rediscovers the identity that makes him successful, that will lead to results like goals and assists.

“When he’s at his best, he’s moving his feet,” Hynes said. “He’s a crafty player. He can score goals. He can kill penalties. He’s good on the power play, and he’s a competitive guy in puck battles.”

In the Wild’s preseason game Sunday evening at Xcel Energy Center, a 4-2 loss to the Stars that included 25 saves from Jesper Wallstedt, Gaudreau scored on the power play while playing on the top line with the Wild resting most of their veterans even after trimming their training camp roster significantly before puck drop.

Travis Boyd had the other Wild goal. Dallas, which was also without many of its key players, capitalized into an empty net for its last goal.

The Wild assigned forwards Hunter Haight, Kyle Masters, Pavel Novak and Sammy Walker as well as defenseman Jake Peart to the minors. Forward Adam Raska and defensemen Joseph Cecconi and Cameron Crotty went on waivers to join them in the American Hockey League. Defenseman Stevie Leskovar was sent back to juniors, while forward Ryan Sandelin and goalie William Rousseau were released from their tryouts; they’ll report to Iowa’s training camp.

Once the season starts, Gaudreau’s address in the lineup will undoubtedly change to a bottom-six role, but that doesn’t diminish the importance of him returning to form.

In fact, improvement from Gaudreau and everyone else who struggled is what the Wild are counting on to have their own bounce-back performance.

“I just take all of that that happened last year and take that as good growth, good learnings and move on, and that’s it,” Gaudreau said. “Last year is last year. Now, we move forward.”