On Wild D Ryan Suter and his nearly unprecedented minutes burden

Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter is playing big minutes this season. Historically big minutes.

Suter currently leads the league in ice time, and it isn't even close. The U.S. Olympian played 170 minutes more than Florida Panthers defender Brian Campbell, who is second in the league. He also played 200 minutes more than Senators puck mover Erik Karlsson, who is third.

On the Wild, Suter averages nearly five minutes of ice time more per game than the next most heavily used Minnesota defenseman (Jonas Brodin). He is currently averaging 29:55 minutes per contest, and logged more than 30 minutes in six of his past 10 games (and more than 34 minutes in three of those contests).

If Suter finishes the season averaging more than 30 minutes per game, and he's pretty close at the moment, he would become the first NHL defenseman to do so since Chris Pronger averaged 30:14 for the St. Louis Blues during the 1999-2000 NHL season. Pronger won the Hart Trophy that season.

Even if Suter doesn't finish the season above that magical "30 minute per game average" mark, he's still very likely to be the first NHL player to average more than 29 minutes per game in more than a decade. 

"Suter is accustomed to playing big minutes," Wild coach Mike Yeo said in a massive understatement to the Star Tribune this week. Still, Yeo admitted that the team has to "make sure we're monitoring" the amount of run they are giving their top-pairing defender.

"It’s mental. Some games are harder than others," Suter explained this week. "We weren’t playing a lot of defense (in a loss to the Wild on Tuesday), and when we were in our end, we were getting it out quick. Those are easier games than when teams are hounding you and all over you, like Dallas in the first period (last Saturday). But I feel fresh."

Part of the reason the Wild relies on Suter so much is because of the rather atrocious play from Minnesota's third-pairing defenders. The trio of Keith Ballard, Nate Prosser and Clayton Stoner clearly don't enjoy Yeo's trust, and have played sparingly (like 10 minutes per game or less) of late.

Another reason? Suter can handle it, for the most part. While Suter's underlying numbers have taken a step back from his career norms - probably largely due to his increased workload this season - the Wild are still outscoring their opponents with Suter on the ice. 

His constant on-ice presence also allowed struggling sophomore Brodin and talented offensive defenseman Marco Scandella to face easier circumstances. That's proven both helpful and necessary so far.

According to Suter and his coaches, his anticipatory style of play is helping. Obviously, he knows how to manage his energy. 

"Maybe instead of jumping up and making plays, you just sit back a bit and rest up," Suter explained of handling huge minutes earlier in the year. "Then that following shift, you can get back out there and create again."

Wild assistant coach Darryl Sydor, who played nearly 1300 games in the NHL, echoed that general sentiment in the same interview.

"He knows how to manage it well, he knows when to be more assertive and when to just buy some time and rest on the ice," he said. "Quality D-men, they're all different. But Ryan knows how to use his partner well and his teammates well. You're not always looking for him to lug the puck."

As did Panthers defenseman Campbell, who suggested that it's completely different when Suter plays 30 minutes and when he does (since he's constantly jumping into the rush). Campbell also warned about the prospect of incurring diminishing returns as a result of fatigue, especially during stretches where the schedule gets condensed:

"I think the thing you worry about with him is stretches where they play a lot of games in a row or get in those eight games in 12 nights," he said. "I know I've played some years where too many minutes, you get fatigued and you're out on the ice and you have to conserve energy." 

The Wild are entering just that - a heavy stretch of games. After playing four games in the last six days, the Wild now play 16 contests in the final 31 days of the season. 

For a team in the thick of a competitive playoff race, the Wild will lean on Suter heavily. Maybe a little too much. While Suter is almost certainly up to it, expect the Wild to look to upgrade their blue-line depth this offseason.  Lest they continue to run a superstar defenseman into the ground.