Ryan Hartman’s 2025-26 report card comes with a familiar twist: the edge is still there, but the control showed up more often this past season. That matters, because Hartman has long been the kind of player who lives close to the line. This time, though, he stayed on the right side of it more often and gave Minnesota a fuller version of his game.
The biggest reason his grade climbed was simple: the offense came back. Hartman appeared in 76 games and finished with 23 goals and 20 assists for 43 points, a jump of 17 points from the previous season.
He also kept his penalty totals in check more than usual, logging 48 penalty minutes, his lowest total since 2020-21 when he played only 51 games. For a player known as much for agitation as scoring, that balance stood out.
He still brought the contact. Hartman finished with 64 hits, a number that may not jump off the page but still fit his style.
What often gets overlooked, though, is how much he gives on the defensive end. He blocked 95 shots, which ranked fifth on the team and led all forwards, nearly 40 more than sixth-place Matt Boldy.
That mix of offense, physical play, and defensive sacrifice is what pushed his regular season grade to an A. It wasn’t higher because there’s still a sense he has more to offer. But it also wasn’t lower, because he clearly helped in every area that matters.
Hartman carried that impact into the playoffs. He played in all 11 postseason games and posted three goals and four assists for seven points, good for sixth on the roster.
The one area that got away from him was discipline. He piled up 18 penalty minutes, the most on the team, as the intensity of the postseason pulled him back toward the edge.
Even so, he didn’t disappear. Hartman added 18 hits and continued to make life harder on opposing shooters with 11 blocked shots, which tied him for seventh on the team.
Only Michael McCarron had more blocked shots among forwards. That willingness to put himself in the lane remained a real part of his value.
His playoff grade came in at an A-, a touch below what he earned in the regular season. The offense was there, the defense was there, and the physicality was there. The only thing dragging him down was the extra time in the box, along with the familiar sense that he could still give a little more.
Put together, Hartman’s year lands in the low A to high A- range overall. It was a bounce-back season after a rougher one, and he responded the way he often has when things go sideways: he found a way to recover.
The bigger question now is where he fits when the next season opens, since he bounced around line combinations a good bit. Wherever he starts, the Wild will be hoping the same thing they got this year - production, grit, and a little more restraint.
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