By saying extra work with Wild assistant coaches Darby Hendrickson and Andrew Brunette would help Erik Haula's conditioning, Mike Yeo made a subtle inference a few days ago in Columbus that he was not overly thrilled with the benched center's fitness.
The Wild coach was asked Friday morning if he'd expand on what he meant.
"It's something I talked to him about earlier in the year because I noticed right from the start of the year [he was] taking shorter shifts and taking a little longer for him to recover from his shifts," Yeo said. "Since he's been a healthy scratch, we've had two very, very challenging skates for him. That doesn't mean it's going to be right back to where it needs to be. So it's something that has to continue to be worked on."
Haula, the former two-time Gophers leading scorer, returned to the Wild's lineup Friday against the Toronto Maple Leafs after being scratched in two consecutive games and three of the past four. He has three goals and an assist in 31 games and is minus-4.
Yeo wanted Haula's speed to be a factor like it was last year in the playoffs. He wanted him to create turnovers, be solid defensively and make plays.
"More than anything, just the overall compete and battle and urgency in his game," Yeo said.
Yeo sent Haula a harsh message the past week, particularly with Mikael Granlund sidelined by a broken wrist. But Yeo wanted to give Haula a chance to respond and had him center fellow youngsters Nino Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle against the Maple Leafs. The line was strong in the 3-1 victory, and Haula attempted five shots, had two hits, blocked a shot and won 11 of 16 faceoffs.
Haula said he worked hard with Hendrickson and Brunette on the ice and strength and conditioning coach Kirk Olson off it.
