Bjugstad looking more at home with his hometown team

ST. PAUL -- Nick Bjugstad is living out his hockey dreams in real time.
The one-time Mr. Hockey Award winner, a former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher and first-round selection in the NHL Draft, Bjugstad is now skating for his hometown team, one he watched a bunch and cheered for growing up in Blaine.
"Had jerseys, was a big Marian Gaborik guy. Just your typical Minnesota kid who loved them," Bjugstad said. "When [Andrew] Brunette scored the winner [in the 2003 playoffs against Colorado], I remember I was asleep because we had school the next day. But my dad, he was screaming in the basement. He woke the whole family up, jumping up and down in his underwear. That was probably the biggest Wild moment for me, being a Minnesota fan."

Bjugstad's certainly comfortable in his surroundings at Xcel Energy Center. He came to games here as a kid, played in the State Tournament with Blaine High School and played in the WCHA Final Five as a member of the Gophers, even helping the U of M past rival North Dakota in the NCAA Tournament one year.
So when he scored his first goal as a member of the Wild here on Sunday night in a 5-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks, it was just another milestone for the 6-foot-6 centerman who is in search of a career resurgence with his hometown team.

Traded to the Wild on Sept. 15, 2020 from the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota acquired him for the cost of a conditional draft pick in 2021.
The deal ended an increasingly frustrating run in Pittsburgh, one where Bjugstad struggled to find a consistent role, and even more importantly, struggled to stay healthy.
He had core muscle surgery in November of 2019, which set him back four months. He returned in early March, played three games, then was on the shelf again, this time with a back injury that would eventually require a microdiscectomy, the second of his NHL career.
"I had one in 2015. I tried playing through it but that takes a even bigger toll on your body," Bjugstad said. "Obviously, when you're having neurological pain, numbness and tingling, your body is telling you something. But I was 22, so I was like, 'Well, I'll just keep playing until I can't,' because I didn't have an understanding or a worry about the future.
"Now, when you're 28 and you're having those same symptoms, you approach it differently, approaching it a lot more cautiously."
His surgery this time has allowed him a lot more time to get himself fully healthy. Following his first back surgery, Bjugstad went under the knife in spring and was back in time for the start of training camp that September.
This time, Bjugstad had surgery in May and because of the COVID-19 pause, he wasn't back on the ice for training camp until early January.
"I've just had a lot more time to work with it, a lot more time to rest and not have to worry about trying to get in hockey shape while you still have lingering rehab stuff going on," Bjugstad said.
When healthy, Bjugstad has shown the kind of potential that made him the 19th overall selection by the Florida Panthers in 2010, and the kind of potential he's shown ever since he was dancing around Northwest Suburban Conference defensemen at Fogerty Arena.
Bjugstad literally grew up on local highlight reels, and somewhere in his home, has the very first 'Bjugstad 27' Wild jersey, the same one he received for being the top senior high school player in the state back in the spring of 2010.
In 2013-14, his first full NHL season, Bjugstad scored 16 goals and 38 points in 76 games. The next year, he had 24 goals and 43 points in 72 games.
Perhaps his most complete season came in 2017-18, when he skated in all 82 games, scored 19 goals and had 49 points.
The following year, he was traded to Pittsburgh midseason, the injury struggles began and continued, before he was finally traded again, this time to Minnesota, for pennies on the dollar.
It's clear though that Bjugstad made an impression on Wild GM Bill Guerin, who was in Pittsburgh as Assistant GM when the Penguins acquired him from the Panthers. In 32 games with Pittsburgh in 2018-19, he flashed some serious skill, posting nine goals and 14 points.

"Always liked Nick as a player," Guerin said at the time of the trade that brought him to Minnesota. "Nick definitely has something to prove. He's motivated, he's in the last year of his deal. Bringing a guy home, there is some risk involved in that, but I'm confident that Nick is going to be a professional."
Bjugstad was immediately put in a position to succeed with the Wild, starting training camp and the season between Zach Parise and Kirill Kaprizov on the club's top line. While it didn't work out there, he has found chemistry on a line with Ryan Hartman, and before he missed the past two games, Nico Sturm.
Bjugstad, a righty shot, is a natural centerman, but can also play along the wing. He can play a bottom-6 role, but also has enough equity in the League that he can comfortably move up in the lineup and play top-6 minutes if need be.
His size is obviously an asset as well. He's also got silky smooth hands that he's displayed around these parts for years, in high school and in college.
"His versatility is something that I like," Guerin said. "He's big, he's skilled, he can make plays and score. I think a healthy, motivated Nick Bjugstad is a very good player.
Bjugstad struggled some to find a consistent rhythm early in the season in a top-6 role, but that's to be expected for a guy who had played in just three NHL games over the previous 14 months.
He's settled in of late, looked far more comfortable -- both physically and in his role -- and seems like he's ready to take off from a production standpoint.

"I think there's some things I could clean up a little bit, but as far as pace and getting back into a rhythm is important," Bjugstad said. "But I do think I have more to give and I've had some spurts that weren't the greatest. So definitely looking at tape and working on different things, talking with the coaches. I gotta keep working on the little things, and then eventually, it'll sort itself out."
His goal Sunday, a deflection in front of the net, is an example of the kind of maturity the 28-year-old may not have shown earlier in his career. After spending so many years physically dominating competition at every level, Bjugstad says he's learned that it's not that simple at this level.
"That kind of goal] wasn't a part of my game early in my career. You learn quick that it's a tough league to score in, so obviously, bigger body, you gotta get to the net and find ways," Bjugstad said. "It's really hard to get scoring chances in general in this league, so if it's not going in, that's where you should be headed. Bend your knees and do your best, but that's something I definitely ... I'm starting to pride myself more in and trying to work on that daily."
With his hockey future up in the air after this season, Bjugstad is hoping he can prove enough to earn himself a longer stay here in his hometown. He's got a believer in Guerin, in himself and in his head coach, Dean Evason.
"You look up the middle of the ice and if you've got a guy with his size, his stature, right-handed center-ice man," Evason said, "it's extremely exciting I think for any coach and any organization."
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