Any questions Tim Army had about Connor Dewar did not last very long.

After being drafted in the third round in 2018 by the Minnesota Wild, Dewar arrived in the AHL one season later. Army, then coach of the Iowa Wild, remembers a 20-year-old Dewar being overwhelmed by the transition from the WHL to the professional ranks, as many players are. Dewar was coming from the Everett Silvertips, where he was expected to be a dominant offensive producer and was with a team-leading 81 points in 59 games in his final junior season.

Rookie professionals can sometimes struggle to find their footing as their roles change completely. But Army came to understand that his new centre possessed something many of those same rookies lack: An eagerness and willingness to learn.

“(Dewar) was an elite offensive producer in junior, but he quickly got comfortable with the physicality of the AHL,” Army said. “Once you start to gain confidence physically at a new level, your natural instincts come through.”

Those instincts helped Army carve out Dewar’s new role: Moving from the wing to become an energetic centre who was comfortable and trusted with the dirty work, like killing off five-on-three penalties with his impressive stick detail and quick feet to hound opposition players.

It’s those kinds of five-on-three penalties that sunk the Toronto Maple Leafs in their last game against the Boston Bruins, and it’s why Leafs GM Brad Treliving felt comfortable making a late swing for Dewar, 24, just ahead of Friday’s trade deadline. The Leafs sent a 2026 fourth-round pick and forward prospect Dmitry Ovchinnikov to the Wild for the low-risk and no-nonsense defensively-minded centre.

“It’s pretty cool for a Canadian kid to end up in a big hockey market in Canada. I’m pretty excited,” a stunned-sounding Dewar told reporters immediately after he found out he was being sent north of the border.

Dewar might have 10 goals in 57 games this season, but the hope within the Leafs seems to be that he can provide a boost to the team when short-handed.

“(Dewar) is a very competitive player, and hopefully he can help us on the penalty kill,” Treliving said Friday.

Treliving didn’t make any additions to the top of his lineup at the deadline, instead hoping to stabilize the Leafs roster with improved depth. The Leafs are going to have to become harder to play against, again, as their games against the Bruins this week illustrated.

Dewar has played in just seven playoff games with the Wild but brings reliability to his game that appears made for the postseason. The Leafs likely won’t rely on Dewar to initiate much of the offence he showed in junior. Instead, Dewar’s importance to this Leafs team will come in how much he can neutralize the opposition’s best players and lower the temperature in his own zone.

“His decision-making is outstanding,” Army said, “and those kinds of things create offence.”

Dewar’s ability to quickly adapt to new surroundings and an entirely new situation will benefit him as he transitions to the biggest opportunity of his career. Sheldon Keefe and the Leafs coaching staff likely won’t ask Dewar to become something he’s not, but will instead ask him to be tested in the playoffs. Dewar could do so by utilizing the best traits he showed in his second full NHL season with the Wild: His wheels, his brain and his attention to detail defensively.

“(Dewar) is very intelligent. He’s mobile, fast and can separate himself from players in the offensive zone. A really good skater,” Army said.

For now, adding Dewar might not immediately solve the questions surrounding the Leafs’ bottom-six centre situation. Dewar was averaging just 11:17 ATOI this season in a fourth-line role in Minnesota. Will Keefe trust Dewar enough, given he has just 173 NHL games under his belt, to move into a third-line centre role and push Max Domi to the wing? Could David Kämpf move up from the fourth line, which would see Dewar take his spot on a defensively-minded fourth line?

Whatever is asked of him, Dewar will likely answer the call.

“His grit and competitiveness is over the top,” former Wild coach Dean Evason said.

What will likely be asked of Dewar immediately is to bring his speed to a penalty kill that currently sits 22nd in the NHL at just 77.5 percent. The Wild’s penalty kill sits 29th in the NHL, and Dewar played an average of 2:05 per game short a man or two this season, good for fourth among Wild forwards.

“Most importantly,” Army said when describing Dewar, “he’s reliable defensively.”

Dewar is more reserved by nature. Because of that, it might take some time for him to find his footing within the Leafs dressing room.

“You don’t get a lot out of him. He’s really quiet, but as you get to know him, you find ways to draw stuff out of him, because he’s all business,” Army said.

But Army insists: If Keefe makes a request of Dewar, his new centre is going to quickly respond.

“Extremely coachable,” Army said proudly of Dewar. “He can listen and then execute the right way without any complaining.”

As an RFA, the Leafs get the added bonus of having Dewar under team control until he becomes a UFA at 27. He is in the final year of a two-year deal with an $800,000 AAV. What Dewar can provide in the postseason as a Leaf could determine what his long-term future looks like in Toronto.

With just one series win since 2004, it’s no secret that the playoffs matter in Toronto. Just as Dewar has quickly shifted his role in the past, he’s going to have to quickly come to an understanding of what he needs to do to help the Leafs earn more wins in the springtime.

“(Dewar) can give you those momentum shifts that you need in a playoff series, (that) can dictate play,” Army said. “The kind of plays that set the table for the big guys to score.”