"I'm really excited to be a part of this group. I have a ton of respect for the guys in this locker room," Hendricks said Thursday after the Wild's morning skate. "I'm in the lineup tonight. Obviously, I need to keep the job. That's an every-day type of thing. I'm playing tonight but it doesn't mean anything unless I perform."
Now back with his hometown team, Hendricks, a former Av, is suiting up for his sixth NHL club after helping the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets to the postseason each of the past two years.
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Hendricks has played in a combined 102 games during that stretch, scoring just nine goals and 20 points, but his leadership has been instrumental in helping those young locker rooms come together.
During the Wild's first preseason game in Winnipeg last month, Hendricks scored a goal and received a nice ovation from the opposing crowd.
"I've seen the texts on his phone from [Connor] McDavid and from [Mark] Scheifele and from these young players that thanked Matt so much for helping them guide the way," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "I thought those were really touching and if I was Matt, I would have taken a lot of pride in getting those texts from really great players. He has an impact out there."
The Wild hopes Hendricks can have a similar effect, although admittedly, the locker room dynamics are much different with Minnesota. The Wild's core has been together for years. It helps that Hendricks is a local product and has skated with several of his new teammates over the course of summers and at Da Beauty League.
His reputation around the league also precedes itself and has been on display through his first few weeks with the Wild.
"He's very personable, he's been in the league and he knows the ins and outs. Every day, he comes in and he's excited and you can tell he's happy to be here," said Wild forward Charlie Coyle. "He comes in and he's the first one to say hi to everyone and he's upbeat and it makes you feel good. It brings up the room, just him being that way."
Boudreau said Hendricks earned the opening night assignment on the strength of his training camp, in particular, the Wild's final preseason game in this building last week.
Last season, Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov "ran amok," according to Boudreau, and the Wild didn't answer the bell.
Last week, Zadorov was at it again, but this time, the Wild had Hendricks, who confronted the towering defenseman. They didn't drop the mitts, but the message had been sent none the less. After that, the Wild calmed down, dug out of a two-goal deficit and forced overtime.
"Nothing happened, but just to show somebody standing up to this guy was a real important gesture," Boudreau said. "Quite frankly, the leadership he brings, I thought, on the road, would really be a positive influence in the first game."
Here are the projected lineups:
WILD
Jason Zucker - Eric Staal - Mikael Granlund
Zach Parise - Mikko Koivu - Nino Niederreiter
Joel Eriksson Ek - Jordan Greenway - Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno - Matt Hendricks - Eric Fehr
Ryan Suter - Matt Dumba
Jonas Brodin - Jared Spurgeon
Nick Seeler - Greg Pateryn
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
AVALANCHE
Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
Colin Wilson - Tyson Jost - Alexander Kerfoot
Matt Nieto - Carl Soderberg - Gabriel Bourque
Sheldon Dries - J.T. Compher - Matt Calvert
Samuel Girard - Erik Johnson
Nikita Zadorov - Tyson Barrie
Ian Cole - Patrik Nemeth
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer
