GLENDALE, ARIZ. – Jonas Brodin watched most of the game on a TV instead of participating in it, getting knocked out of the action barely five minutes after puck drop.
"We missed him, clearly," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "Would the outcome have been different? Who knows? But we definitely missed him in that Game 7."
Brodin was idle for the final scenes of last season, sustaining a shoulder injury early in an eventual 6-2 loss at Vegas that eliminated the team from the playoffs.
The defenseman healed up over the summer, and as the Wild returned to face the Golden Knights for the first time on Thursday since that first-round clash — after playing at Arizona late Wednesday night — Brodin is skating as the stable defender with offensive upside that he showcased he can be earlier this year.
"He's using his asset and that's his legs," Evason said. "You hear about different defensemen around the league, that they're breakout machines, and he is that guy. Once he gets the puck on his tape, he can literally carry it out himself. He's taken a step forward offensively."
Through the first eight seasons of his NHL career, Brodin scored more than five goals only twice and he's never exceeded 30 points.
Last season, though, he became more of a factor on offense and scored a career-high nine goals, an uptick he credits to confidence.
"When I was younger, I was just more passing," Brodin said. "Didn't want to take the shot. But now I feel I can shoot more."