Mason Shaw perseveres through three knee surgeries to make impact with Wild

Every day at Wild training camp five years ago, Brett McLean walked into the stands at Xcel Energy Center and sat down.

But McLean, who was then coaching with the team's AHL Iowa affiliate, wasn't alone. He was visiting Mason Shaw, who had been drafted by the organization just a few months earlier but was an onlooker at camp, crutches posted up beside him explaining why.

"The character it takes to take go from there to where he is now is pretty special," said McLean, now a Wild assistant coach.

Shaw had not one, not two, but three significant setbacks on his way to the NHL. That's how many times he's suffered a torn ACL, including twice after the Wild selected the forward with a fourth-round pick in 2017. Despite long recoveries, finding out what his hockey future looked like fueled Shaw.

And after persevering and finally making his debut last year, the 24-year-old scored his first NHL goal a week ago and is helping the Wild through their own injury woes.

"Honestly, it's one of the highlights of my journey to get to this point," Shaw said. "Injuries, they're not easy and I had some pretty major ones that can sometimes force you out of the game ... maybe I thought after my third one that it was time for me to try something else.

"So, now that I'm in the spot I'm at right now, I look back on it with a lot of pride."

Shaw was 16 years old, playing junior hockey in Canada, when he tore his left ACL and had surgery.

Once he recovered, he was back in Western Hockey League action with Medicine Hat — about 200 miles south of his hometown of Wainwright, Alberta — and finished his third and final season there six points shy of 100.

"We were rivals in junior, so we played a lot," fellow Wild rookie Calen Addison said. "He was always a pest to play against but also a very skilled player obviously."

The Wild drafted Shaw 97th overall in 2017, and he went to Traverse City, Mich., for a prospect tournament. In his second game, a defender came in for a hit in the corner and Shaw turned the wrong way. He felt a pop and pain surged his whole body; this time, it was his right knee.

"Freak accident," he said.

Fast forward two years to 2019, when Shaw was an established player with Iowa. He was in a playoff series in the American Hockey League when another incident in the corner stung him.

"I had a guy fall on my knee," Shaw said. "I knew right away because I'd had that feeling enough times."

That meant another surgery in Minnesota, on his left knee, and a familiar process unfolded.

After the procedure, which included taking muscle from Shaw's hamstring to construct a new anterior cruciate ligament, Shaw began physiotherapy the very next day; those sessions would last sometimes two to three hours.

A few weeks later, he ditched the crutches.

"Your leg is like a noodle," Shaw said. "There's nothing there for strength."

At the fourth month, he started to skate again but didn't begin to practice for two more months. Finally, between eight and 10 months, he was ready for a return.

"Sure, there were days that it's hard and you didn't know if you were going to get to this point," Shaw said.

But he didn't want to quit. Shaw said he'd never had it easy, describing himself as undersized at 5 feet, 10 inches and occasionally overlooked. Reaching the NHL motivated him to heal.

"Give yourself the opportunity to get through it," he said. "Put in the work and see where you come out of it."

On Dec. 9, 2021, Shaw made his NHL debut at San Jose and ended up skating in three games with the team that season; otherwise, he was in the minors, where he scored 19 goals in 62 games.

"He just never gave up," General Manager Bill Guerin said.

Shaw was one of the final cuts at camp this year, a numbers decision since the Wild didn't want to carry any extras at the outset. He was quickly named captain in Iowa, but wasn't out of Minnesota long before he was called up to help spark the Wild out of a winless start, then returning when injuries sapped the forward group.

Then last Saturday at Chicago, Shaw tallied his first career goal, shuffling a pass from Sam Steel into an open net.

"Almost get chills thinking of it," said McLean. "Just seeing that journey for him and knowing all those steps and the anguish … when he scored that goal, it felt so good."

Two nights later, and with his dad Aaron in attendance, Shaw potted another goal in a victory over Montreal at Xcel Energy Center.

"Having a little bit of success on the ice has really made me feel a part of this team," he said. "I feel like I'm not just here to fill some minutes."

Even with his history of knee injuries, Shaw still brings a tenacious energy to the Wild, with grit and work ethic the foundation of his style.

"Incredibly proud of him," said longtime teammate Connor Dewar, who was drafted by the Wild a year after Shaw. "To have seen his rehabs and how hard he had to work and the bag skates and workouts. He had to watch his teammates playing games, winning and losing, the ups and downs of the season, and he's just kind of there as a bystander. Couldn't really help; he's just rehabbing his legs, right?

"It's hard on you mentally. You kind of see in the way he plays every game like it could be his last."

Shaw is proving to himself he can play at this level, and his next goal is to become a full-time NHLer.

Without his determination, he wouldn't even have that chance.

"Adversity is the greatest teacher," Shaw said. "You learn a lot about yourself, and you also you gain a ton of gratitude for the game of hockey itself."