Pitlick all business as he returns home to Minnesota

It's a homecoming for new Wild forward Rem Pitlick, but that's not the way the former All-American at the University of Minnesota is looking at his new lease on life.
It's a new lease on his professional life after two seasons with the Nashville Predators organization, the same one that drafted him in the third round of the 2016 NHL Draft.
Placed on waivers by the Preds on Tuesday with the intent of sending Pitlick to their AHL affiliate in Milwaukee, he was instead claimed by his hometown team where he will aim at establishing himself as an NHL regular.

But that's where the feel-good, hometown boy does good story ends.
"It's super exciting. But I'm here to play hockey," Pitlick said on Thursday. "I think that it's found me at a certain interesting time in my life because I went through this at the University of Minnesota. It's overwhelming. You're looking up to this organization. It's the same thing for the Gophers. I was a kid watching the Gophers on TV. It's like, 'oh my gosh, I'm here, it's amazing, people are texting me, people want tickets, all that stuff.' But I was able to kind of figure out how to not be distracted during that time.
"So I hope that if I earn an opportunity here, I'll already have that learning ability to understand that it's focus, and I'm here to play hockey in this business."
The Wild see a player with plenty of untapped offensive potential.
Pitlick scored 47 goals and 108 points in 112 games at the U, and was named a First-Team All-American after his third and final season there.
He tallied 28 goals in 71 games at the AHL level. He had 53 goals and 105 points in 103 games as a USHLer. He scored in bunches at Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Faribault.
Everywhere he's gone, he's scored points. And with just 11 games of NHL experience in Nashville, Minnesota hopes that translates at the highest level as well.

"He's the type of guy that we value," Guerin said. "He's highly skilled, he can score, he's got a great shot, he's a high character."
Pitlick also comes from great bloodlines.
His dad, Lance, played four seasons at the University of Minnesota, then skated in 393 games in the NHL with Ottawa and Florida. His mom, Lisa, was a two-time Big Ten champion gymnast for the Gophers and was the team MVP in 1988.
"She always tells me she's a better athlete than me," Pitlick said with a grin.
His younger brother, Rhett, is a freshman on the Gopher hockey team now and his cousin, Tyler, played college hockey at Minnesota State and is a forward for the Calgary Flames.
Rhett, like Rem, is a forward. their dad was a defenseman.
"I think because we were smaller players," Pitlick said. "We weren't going to be able to be that punishing defenseman like my dad."
Pitlick said his dad has been a great resource for him as he navigates his way through these changes so early in his career. Two people that were instrumental in Lance's career were Ray Shero and Randy Sexton - both of whom serve as Senior Advisors to Guerin with the Wild.
"I know there's a whole group of people that brought me here. But it's really interesting that the people that gave him that chance are here in Minnesota," Pitlick said. "I'm hoping that this group as well as those two individuals see something in me. And I'm going to try to bring that to this team and earn it."
Pitlick said he knows his ticket to sticking around could come from his ability to rediscover his scoring touch and establish himself as a threat on the ice.
That's what he's always done, and that's what he believes he can bring to the Wild.
"I haven't fully proven myself in the NHL. And yes, I want to be an offensive player. I think that through my life, that's what I've been known to be," Pitlick said. "I know it's a different level in the NHL, and I'm looking to somehow find my game at that level. So I'm hoping that this is the place and I think ... the theme for me is I need to earn it. Nothing is going to be given to me.
"Yes, it's a homecoming, cool, but I haven't made it yet. And I'm ready to work and try to earn this opportunity."
Photo by Brandon McCauley