SCHROEDER LEADING THE CHARGE
Oct 30, 2014By Tom Witosky
Follow Tom @toskyAHLWild
If Jordon Schroeder’s first seven games are any indication, two things will be very clear very soon.
The Iowa Wild will have found that speedy, sure-shot playmaker the club needs and Schroeder will be on the path back to the National Hockey League after a frustrating injury-marred season last year in Vancouver.
“Obviously, everyone wants to be at the NHL level, but there are some things I have to work on – I know that,” the 24-year-old Lakeville, Minnesota native said in a recent interview. “I have to change my game to get back there.”
Schroeder, who was drafted in the first round of 2009 entry draft by Vancouver, has been a bright spot on the Iowa Wild roster during the club’s slow start to the 2014-15 season. Although the AHL team lost its first five of six games, Schroeder’s speed, his ability to pass and to shoot has made him a key offensive threat for the team.
Coach Kurt Kleinendorst has put Schroeder on a scoring line with center Tyler Graovac, now one of the Wild’s top prospects and winger Zack Mitchell, a free agent signing with a reputation for scoring. Combined the three players have almost half the total number of points in goals and assists for the entire team.
After Wednesday’s road match at Milwaukee, Schroder ranks third in scoring in the AHL with three goals and seven assists in seven games.
Graovac said that Schroeder’s ability to pass and to see passing lanes provides the team with some offensive power.
“Jordan is a special player,” Graovac said. “He brings a lot of speed on my wing and sees the ice very well.”
Schroeder also has become the quarterback on one of Iowa’s power-play lines that includes Graovac.
“He is always looking for seams and he is always looking for me on the backdoor, which is great,” Graovac said.
Schroeder signed a two-year, two-way contract in July with Minnesota as an unrestricted free agent following a frustrating final year in Vancouver that included sitting out the first three months of the season with a fractured ankle.
After returning to the line-up, Schroeder found it difficult to get playing time and at the end of the season understood that a change likely was necessary. He said Minnesota’s decision to sign him made his move a lot easier.
“It was my hometown, my home state so it was exciting for me and my family,” Schroeder, who played collegiately for the Minnesota Gophers, said. “It was a little bit of a surprise for me. I had never gone through free agency before so it was different. “
Kleinendorst said Schroeder’s lack of ice time in the later part of the season probably hurt his chances to remain with Canucks. “That’s tough because now he is in a situation where he is building his game back up as well as his confidence,”
But make no mistake, Kleinendorst said, Schroeder is a very talented offensive player.
“He is one of the most skilled players we have had in a while,” Kleinedorst said, adding that his skating ability and his skill set for passing and shooting are obvious.
Schroeder, fully recovered from his injury, displayed that skill last Saturday in his second goal against Charlotte when he beat Checkers goalie John Muse with a shot from the left face-off circle after Graovac forced a turnover of the puck. Schroeder’s shot hit high just under the crossbar of the net just past Muse’s right shoulder.
“That’s a shooter’s shot,” Kleinendorst said. “That is what he can do and do well.”
But Kleiendorst said that Schroeder needs to improve on playing in front of the net as well as in the corners where his size can be make it difficult. Listed at 5-foot-9 and 180-pounds, Schroeder’s size could be a handicap, but Kleinendorst doesn’t think so.
“He has to play more in traffic,” Kleinendorst said. “That is not something necessarily his comfort level, but if he wants to be an NHL player he is going to have to find a way to get into the dirty areas because he does just about everything else well.”
Schroeder said he views his time with the Iowa Wild as a “new beginning” that will give him time to develop better consistency on the ice. If his previous two stints in the AHL are any indication, Iowa will benefit substantially from his presence on the ice.
Schroder had 37 points in his first two AHL seasons before putting up 44 points in 76 games during the 2011-12 season. He followed that with 33 points in 42 AHL games.
“I have the speed and skill to play at that level, it is just that I need to fine tune some things,” he said. “This as a new beginning – a fresh start with a new organization and I intend to stay positive and work hard.”
Schroeder expressed confidence that the team’s shaky start is only temporary mostly because of the overall team talent.
“There have been times when we have played like we definitely can be one of the better teams in the league, but then there were times when we fall off the wagon and don’t look good,” he said.
But that can change he said, just like he intends to change his game to get back to the NHL.
“Creating chances and creating a spark for the team. That is what is on my mind. To do something each shift gets the team going,” Schroeder said.