The Depth Chart and Other Randomness

Depth Chart
Earlier today, Mike Russo of the Star-Tribune posted what will be the Wild’s depth chart if it starts the season with the way the roster is now:

Goalie 
Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding
Barry Brust
Anton Khudobin

LD-RD
Kim Johnsson-Brent Burns
Nick Schultz-Marek Zidlicky
Greg Zanon-Shane Hnidy
John Scott-Jaime Sifers
Tyler Cuma-Justin Falk
Clayton Stoner-Jamie Fraser
Marco Scandella-Maxim Noreau

LW-C-RW
Andrew Brunette-Mikko Koivu-Martin Havlat
Owen Nolan-James Sheppard-Pierre-Marc Bouchard (RW until training camp)
Antti Miettinen-Eric Belanger-Cal Clutterbuck
Colton Gillies-Kyle Brodziak-Derek Boogaard
Petr Kalus-Benoit Pouliot-Craig Weller
Robbie Earl-Morten Madsen-Danny Irmen
Matt Kassian-Cody Almond-Carson McMillan

First of all, if you haven’t checked out Mike Russo’s blog and you’re a Wild fan, shame on you.  It’s one of the best resources for all things Wild out there.  Click here to go there.  Bookmark it, scour it daily and above all thank him for his amazing coverage of the Wild!

Anyway, off my soapbox for the moment.

Looking at this depth chart, the thing that immediately jumps out at me is not the center position.  A lot has been made of our depth (or lack thereof) down the middle.  In looking at the team, however, we’ve got five potential pivots on our roster, and that’s not including Colton Gillies, Owen Nolan or Benoit Pouliot.  Throw those two into the mix and we could have as many as eight players on the opening day that could be capable of anchoring a line in the middle.

The thing that really jumps out at me is our lack of depth at left wing.  After Nolan, Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen, the talent level really drops off.  This isn’t a knock on Gillies; however, we have a serious lack of skill and depth on the left side and, honestly, on the wing in general. 

To no one’s surprise, I’m sure, is our talent on defense and in nets.  Our top-six defensemen could be the best top-six that the team has had.  The additions of Zanon and Hnidy give the team two reliable, physical anchors on the blueline and will force opposing teams to keep their heads up.  Meanwhile, expect Scott and Sifers to compete for the seventh spot in camp, most likely with Scott winning the battle.  That’s not to say, however, that our youth could not come in and surprise.  With Cuma, Falk, Stoner and Scandella in the wings, there is a good chance that Scott and Sifers may not be foregone conclusions at the 7 and 8 slot.  It will take a lot for any of these four to make the squad, however.  Of the four, Stoner probably has the best shot as this could be his make it or break it year, but make no mistake — the Wild’s top 7 are pretty much set.

Olvecky Signs in Nashville
Joel Ward, Ryan Jones and now Olvecky?  Those Tennessee boys sure do like Wild prospects. 

In all honesty, I think that Olvecky has a fantastic chance to make the Nashville squad next season right out of camp.  Olvecky is a big body with a lot of untapped talent to boot, and he performed admirably for the Wild in a limited role with the team in the handful of games he played for us last season.

He really started to come into his own last season and seems like he could be the type of player that Barry Trotz will really love.  For $600K and a two-way contract, I’d take Olvecky any day of the week.  A good depth pick up by the Preds.

Qualifying Offers Signed
The Wild had a few players of their own signed as well.

Restricted free agents Benoit Pouliot, Clayton Stoner, Danny Irmen and Robbie Earl all signed their qualifying offers and it seems as if the lot of them (with the exception of Pouliot) could see another year playing in the minors.  Earl and Irmen both have too many players in front of them to have a shot at making the squad (that is, barring a spectacular camp from either) and Stoner will have to do some serious damage in camp to work his way up the depth chart.

Injuries do happen, though, and we could very easily see one of them get a cup of coffee in the NHL and do what Cal Clutterbuck did last season and not let go.

In addition, Russo reports that the Wild could be close to signing Duncan Milroy and Joe DiSalvatore to plug some holes in their minor league system.

Fletcher Working Trade Market
There are a lot of people who are getting scared by the Wild’s seeming lack of movement this off season.

Those fans are the Chicken Littles of the fanbase.

While there are some quality players out there, there really aren’t any players that would meet any immediate needs for us.  I mentioned Mats Sundin, Robert Lang and Mike Comrie previously, but Sundin likely doesn’t have much more tread on his tires, Lang is rumored (or already has) to jump ship to the KHL and Comrie, well, let’s just say I don’t want to sign a player for his girlfriend.  In addition to those players, there are players such as Alex Tanguay and Petr Sykora left over.  Undoubtedly, these players could make an impact on the Wild roster, but would they really fit?

In the case of Tanguay, he’s a tremendous talent, but he’s also been pigeonholed as a playmaker — of which, the Wild have many.  Sykora would be a cheap, effective sniper, but do the Wild want to sink the money it would take to get him on an aging player?

Bottom line is that the best route for the team to improve, at this point, is the route that Fletcher is taking — trades.

There are many top flight forwards that have been presumed available via trade.  Phil Kessel of the Boston Bruins, Dany Heatley of the Ottawa Senators, Jonathan Cheechoo of the San Jose Sharks, even Chicago’s Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Kane have always been rumored to be available.

To be honest, the names remaining in free agency don’t even hold a candle to a lot of these names.  I’d much rather have a Kessel, Heatley, Sharp or Kane over any of those available — regardless of the assets we have to give up for them.

The bottom line is that the Wild are far from done, in my opinion.  But Fletcher has said all along that he’s not afraid to go late into the summer with a less than full roster to give himself the flexibility that he needs to get the players it takes to make this a winning team.

So…

Fear not Chicken Little.  The sky is not falling.  With a little patience, we could have a playoff team yet.

Wild Schedule Released

For a complete version, click here.

The NHL has released the schedules for the upcoming season today.  Here are some of the highlights for the Wild. 

• The Wild’s season opener will be on October 3, against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
• Their home opener will be against one of Chuck Fletcher’s former teams, the Anaheim Ducks, on October 6.
• The team starts the year with a very road-heavy schedule, playing nine of their first fourteen games on the road.
• The Wild play fifteen sets of back-to-back games.  In other words, 37% of their games are back-to-back sets.
• Marian Gaborik returns to Minnesota on October 30, while Jacques Lemaire returns on January 2.
• The team will play home-and-home series against Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Carolina.
• Three of the team’s last five games are on the road against Division Rivals.
• Todd Richards will return to San Jose on October 10, Martin Havlat will return to Chicago on October 26 and Chuck Fletcher will return to Pittsburgh on October 31.
• Training camp will open on September 13 and pre-season games will be announced at a later date.

Wild Roster Set?

By all accounts, the Wild may very well be done in free agency after missing out on coveted free agent center, Saku Koivu. 

Koivu’s spurning of the Wild screamed with a “big brother looking out for little brother” vibe and, honestly, it’s very hard to begrudge the elder Koivu brother for his reasoning.  But, missing out on the elder Koivu has left us with a very gaping hole in the middle of our line up that the Wild may now be filling from within.  Wild General Manager, Chuck Fletcher, has repeatedly stated that he would look within the organization to fill the second line center spot if Koivu was not landed, and he likely will.  You can hardly blame him for doing so either, as the remainder of the free agent crop down the middle is fairly thin.

First, you’ve got the NHL’s answer to Brett Favre in Mats Sundin.  Yes, he showed up looking more like Kyle Wellwood than his former self when he played with Vancouver, but once he got his legs under him, he was very silently effective.  The problem is, that I think he’s still on the phone with Domino’s trying to figure out what toppings he wants on his pizza for dinner last week.  Sundin’s best days are easily behind him and there’s no reason for the Wild to be barking up this tree.  Next, you’ve got the ageless Robert Lang who was quietly having a solid season for Montreal last season when his achilles tendon got sliced up by a skate blade.  Again, there’s no reason to take a waiver on a player who is coming off of an injury that could easily be a career altering injury for a player in his early 20’s, let alone late 30’s.  Following Lang is the enigmatic Mike Duff…I mean, Comrie.  Don’t get me wrong.  I would love to have Hillary Duff present for 41 Wild home games a year…But it’s just not going to happen.  No way, no how.  Fletch has already stated that Comrie wasn’t an option and, honestly, I don’t see the benefit of paying a guy upwards of $3M per year just because he’s got some nice arm candy coming along with him.

That leaves the Wild fairly scant for options on their second line.  Barring a trade, the Wild look more and more like they’re going to be content to go with the cards that they’ve been dealt.  That means one of the following for their second line center.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard – Bouchard will likely get another look at the pivot in Richards’ system.  It likely won’t be nearly as physically demanding as Lemaire’s center position was, so it could be a good fit for Butch.  The problem I have with this is that I very much enjoyed seeing Butch setting up on the sideboards as opposed to down low.  As a center, he would have to play down low much more and, despite having some of the best puck control in the game, I don’t think he’s got the physicality in his game to do so.

James Sheppard – Oh how I would love for this to actually be a working solution.  Of all our first round prospects, Sheppard has flashed the most potential.  Every once in a while, he would forget himself over the last couple seasons and attempt something absolutely brilliant with the puck.  Then, right in the middle of it, he would come to his senses and not finish the move.  Yes…That is a very great deal of snark coming from my direction, but it is well deserved.  Sheppard has the most untapped potential of any player on the Wild’s roster.  You can see that he’s got the talent — he’s just been afraid to use it.  This season could easily be a break out season for Shep and, if that happens, he’ll be squarely in the middle of the second line for us.

Owen Nolan – This one may be thinking outside of the box just a little, but Nolan was one of our most reliable in the face off circle last season.  Not only that…But, come on…He’s Owen Nolan for crying out loud!  If he wants to play center, he’ll play center.  All kidding aside, Nolan brings a lot of things to the ice that other people, quite simply, don’t.  Apart from the amazing amount of talent that he has, his intangibles are absolutely invaluable.  The Wild could certainly do a lot worse than having him anchoring our second line.  Besides…I hear that every night before he goes to bed, the boogyman checks his closet for Owen Nolan.

Kyle Brodziak – This could be a bit of a stretch, but if Brodziak has the upside that Fletcher and Richards seem to think he does, he could turn into a plesant surprise.  Fletcher said in acquiring him that he had an offensive upside, so if he gets with the right people, he could really flourish.

Benoit Pouliot – Good old Benny Poo.  To be honest, I was surprised that the Wild qualified him — but, I suppose he might warrent a chance in a system that allows him to use all of his offensive creativity.  If the Wild signs him to anymore than a 1-year deal, I’ll be very surprised, as it is most definitely put up or shut up time for Pouliot this season.  A solid performance could see him move steadily up the depth chart, while more invisible performances could see him sink slowly into obscurity

Gaborik-Gate 2009
Okay.  Let’s get one thing out here, right off the bat.  I’m glad that Marian Gaborik has taken his services to the Rangers.  I am very much looking forward to not seeing him in Iron Range Red again.  There was no doubt that the team was better with him on the ice than off — but the biggest problem remained that he was rarely on the ice over the past few seasons and, when he was, it was a crapshoot as to whether we’d get the 5-goal game Marian Gaborik or, as some Wild faithful have taken to calling him, Gho$t.

So the current drama of Gaborik (yes, we still are entrenched in drama surrounding him even though he’s gone) is that the Wild never offered him a contract.  Really?  Fans are really upset that Gaborik’s paper towel groin is heading to some of the worst ice in the NHL for 41 games a season?  The bottom line is this: the Wild had holes to fill and Gaborik would have had to take a paycut for them to do so.  That wasn’t going to happen.  Not with Ronnie $alcer running things and certainly not with Marian Gaborik’s inflated sense of self worth pedigree. 

The most important thing in the NHL right now is cap flexibility.  The Wild will have that.  Martin Havlat signed with us for less than he was being offered elsewhere.  That is the type of player we want — one who wants to be here.  Not a player who we have to trade away a top prospect and draft pick for his “best friend” to play here.  Not a player who won’t budge on his contract demands, despite claiming he wants to remain here.  That’s what’s important.

Havlat’s statement on his Twitter account that he won’t let Minnesota fans down is a statement that we as fans aren’t used to hearing from our superstars…And it’s about time the State of Hockey gets a superstar befitting of the State.  It wasn’t Marian Gaborik — but we’ll see if it will be Martin Havlat.

Report: Havlat and Wild Close – UPDATED

UPDATE – It’s official.  Havlat to the Wild for 6 years, $30M total.  Also sounds like Chicago didn’t do themselves any favors bringing in Hossa.  Havlat’s tweets don’t sound happy towards Chicago’s management.

Per Mike Russo,

The Martin Havlat race is down to one team — the Minnesota Wild.  The Wild and Havlat’s agent have reportedly been working on the contract for hours now and it sounds like the contract, as it stands, is 6 years for $30M total.  If this is true, this is one heck of a negotiating job by Chuck Fletcher, because the Wild will have addressed two of their four needs, while spending under $7M.  In other words, leaving plenty of room to sign a second-line center AND another defenseman before the season starts.

While there are issues regarding Havlat’s durability, he played in 81 games last season and was an absolute revelation in the playoffs — at least until he ran into the shoulder of Niklas Kronwall.

I’m extremely excited about this, as I’ve always like Havlat and I hope that he finally has turned the corner in his injury issues and is ready to play in the State of Hockey!

Also, Russo reports that the Wild are pushing hard for Saku Koivu — No big surprise here, and I would expect the brothers to be playing together next season.

Wild Sign Zanon

So I’ve returned, after a very long hiatus.  Believe me when I say, it was a much needed one too.  Nothing like a little distance to clear your mind, but there’s no time for waxing poetic…It’s free agent time!

The Wild kicked off their free agency day with a whisper, rather than a bang.

They have shown a propensity over the last couple weeks to bring in players that are familiar with new coach Todd Richards (who I am very optimistic about, by the way) and this is no different.

The Wild used their first signing of the day, bringing in defenseman Greg Zanon, previously of Nashville.  Zanon, 29, is a defensive defenseman through and through.  Zanon played all 82 games for Nashville last season and had 237 blocked shots and 153 hits.  In other words, he’ll be manning the fifth/sixth defensive slot and spending a lot of time on the penalty kill for Minnesota.

I like this signing for the simple reason that I like the way that Zanon plays the game.  He is definitely not a signing that we would have seen in the Risebrough/Lemaire era, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Zanon is a rough and tumble d-man, of which we already have John Scott, but Zanon also is a much better skater than Scott.

Like any signing, time will tell how good this really is, but right now I think it’s an optimistic first signing for the Chuck Fletcher-era team.

Update on the Shortlist

Per Mike Russo, there has apparently been an addition to the Wild’s shortlist.

According to Russo, the Wild have interviewed Ducks Assistant GM, David McNab.  The interview took place on Saturday.

This is an interesting selection for the Wild, namely because McNab is very keyed into the NCAA and has been instrumental in the Ducks’ wealth of quality collegiate players in their system.  In addition, Russo added that Paul Fenton, Mike Santos, Pat Quinn and Pierre McGuire have all interviewed for the position already and that Chuck Fletcher will be the next to interview, likely either today or Thursday.  He also mentioned that acting General Manager, Tom Lynn, will be the last to interview.

Russo also mentioned that this may not be the last round of interviews:

There also could be another round of interviews potentially. The Wild is doing none of the interviews at the arena, meaning there’s always a chance they bring some of the candidates back to tour the offices and arena.

That’s all for today.  If I have anything more, I’ll update as I hear it!

And We Have a Shortlist

Mike Russo posted a blog early, early this morning (burning the midnight oil during the off season…The sign of a great writer) that essentially outlined the Wild’s shortlist for the GM position.  You can check the full blog out here and the article he wrote here.  Anyway, here are my thoughts on the candidates:

Chuck Fletcher: Pittsburgh’s Assistant GM has been considered the front runner for this position over the last week or so and is already well respected within the NHL.  At 41 years of age, he already has 16 years of experience under his belt with Florida, Anaheim and Pittsburgh and has worked alongside many of the NHL’s most respected executives.  He has obviously had a large hand in the resurgence of the Penguins over the last few years and, in all honesty, I think the job could be his to lose.  Reports say that Fletcher is to be in town later this week to interview.

Pierre McGuire: McGuire, while the unconventional choice, could bring an interesting viewpoint to the Wild’s front office.  He has long been looking to get into management in the NHL and I would think that you would be hard pressed to find anyone more knowledgable about the talent in the NHL than McGuire.  That said, he has absolutely zero experience with working with the cap.  He is the other of the two front runners for this job, but I think that the recent failings of Barry Melrose in Tampa (whether it was his fault or not) may cause Leipold to shy away on this one.  He is reportedly scheduled to interview tomorrow.

Pat Quinn: I’m not going to make any bones about it.  I love Pat Quinn.  I do think, however, that he’d make a better coach than a GM and he has been saying that he would like to get back into coaching.  He has family in Minnesota (Eden Prairie to be precise) and expressed immediate interest in both the GM and coaching position.  I honestly think that he will likely be the next coach if he is still available when the GM is hired.

Tom Lynn: Lynn is an obvious for consideration for this position, as he was Risebrough’s Assistant GM.  I have a hard time believing that Leipold will go with Lynn, however, as he has repeatedly said that he wanted a fresh look at the team; which I don’t believe Lynn would give.

Paul Fenton: I think Fenton could be the dark horse in all of this.  He and Leipold know each other well and he has certainly been successful in Nashville at helping mold a winning organization.  I would be surprised if Leipold goes with Fenton, but I also think it could certainly be a possibility.

The Walking Wounded and other Wild Updates

Per Russo,

Goalie Niklas Backstrom will indeed have left hip surgery Friday in Vail. Brian Stensaas was on a conference call with acting GM Tom Lynn. He reports he has two cysts on the bony part of his hip.

Lynn says they won’t know how long he’ll be out until they operate. Worst case scenario, Stensaas says, could be four to six months!

But Lynn said the doctor cautions they can’t give a timetable yet. More from Stensaas in Wednesday’s paper.

Also, I hear Brent Burns is having shoulder surgery probably on Thursday.

This is in addition to Andrew Brunette having reconstructive knee surgery this off season and Derek Boogaard having shoulder surgery.

So what does this mean for the Wild?  Well, if the prognosis for Backstrom truly is 4-6 months, that puts Backstrom back at the earliest, August 24th and at the latest October 24th.  Knowing Backstrom, he will work his hardest to rehab and be back sooner, but this essentially makes the top priority for the new GM hammering out a deal for back up goalie Josh Harding.

If this is indeed the case, you can take Harding off of the table as a bargaining chip.  That is, unless the new GM is suddenly stricken by Barry Brust-mania and believes that Brust can shoulder the load as an NHL starter.  What this could do, however, is drive Harding’s stock through the roof.  If Harding can perform like Backstrom did when he wrested the starting job away from Manny Fernandez a few years back, Harding could easily become a hot commodity among NHL teams.

The Search Begins
After being denied permission by Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple Leafs to speak with Dave Nonis, Wild owner Craig Leipold recieved permission from the Nashville Predators to speak with a couple of his old employees; Director of Hockey Operations Mike Santos and assistant GM Paul Fenton.

From Russo,

Leipold declined comment on them, ”just like I won’t comment on any of the other candidates.” 

There are lots of candidates that have surfaced. These are just two that so far I know he’ll be allowed to talk with. I’m sure there are others. I’m working the phones.

Santos is in his third year in Nashville and is responsible in negotiating player contracts and preparing for salary arbitrations. He served as assistant GM for the New York Islanders from 1997-2002 and director of hockey operations for the Florida Panthers from 2002-03.

He was Commissioner and President of the North American Hockey League from 2003-06. He’s worked for USA Hockey and the NHL.

Fenton is in his third year as Nashville’s assistant GM after eight as the director of player personnel. He oversees the Predators’ amateur player development and managers the team’s pro and amateur scouting staffs. He’s also GM of the AHL Milwaukee Admirals.

Fenton, who played eight years in the NHL for seven teams and was a former Boston University standout, also spent five seasons working for the Anaheim Ducks. 

It hasn’t happened yet, but another person I’d assume Leipold would request permission to speak with his Pittsburgh assistant GM Chuck Fletcher. He’s 41 with 16 years of experience. He’s immensely respected after years in Florida, Anaheim and Pittsburgh.

Remember, Leipold has a fabulous relationship with Penguins GM Ray Shero, who used to be assistant GM in Nashville.

In addition, the Wild have been denied permission to speak with Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill.  Nill is under contract until 2010-11 and has a commitment in his contract to stay in Detroit.  In fact, this quote was run in the Windsor Star when Toronto was inquiring about Nill’s availability.

The way we do things here, I’ve already got most of the responsibilities and input that a general manager would have. Ken [Holland] and I work really well together.

I’m comfortable, I’m well-compensated and I like the organization. I know which side my bread is buttered on.

Risebrough Presser
You’ve got to love hockey guys.  Doug Risebrough held his “exit presser” yesterday and held it at Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub.  Gotta love it.

Anyway, Russo had some snippets in his blog regarding the players and it just shows how well respected Risebrough was by his own players.  Derek Boogaard had his fiancee drive to the pub after he literally just woke up from having shoulder surgery, just so that he could thank Risebrough for the opportunity and have a chance to say goodbye.  Risebrough also spent some quality time with Marian Gaborik at the arena and went to Brent Burns’ home to meet with the youngster after the new broke regarding his concussion problems.

Again, on a personal level, I’m sad to see Risebrough go.  He was a great guy, probably the nicest associated with the NHL that I’ve had the pleasure to meet.  Part of me feels that he deserved a bit better treatment than he received from Leipold; however, that’s also Leipold’s perogative as the owner.  It’s his team and he can run it as he sees fit.

On a business level, however, it was time for a change.  Risebrough had become increasingly defensive about his decisions over the past few seasons and it seemed as if fans, management and players alike were all growing tired of his smug, “I know best” attitude.  As disappointed as I am that it had to end like this, it certainly had to end.

In the transcript of the presser, however, there was one quote from Risebrough that really rings true to me.

I think the club, I believe the club is in really good shape, and I’ll tell you why. I think it’s got a good core of players. It’s got good youth. I think it’s got great flexibility in terms of the salary cap. It’s got lots of room this year, it’s got lots of room next year. So whether that means what do you want to do immediate signings or future signings, it’s all there. It’s got a great fan base that’s still in love with this team. So it’s going to be energized. I believe players that had poor years will rebound. I’m pretty comfortable to say the injuries aren’t going to be the same magnitude. So I think it’s a great opportunity for a manager and I think it’s a great opportunity for a coach. And I feel good about that. I made decisions on a regular basis for the right  reasons, and the right reasons never included me. They never included me, they were always for the franchise. Now I can say, I didn’t always make the right decisions, but I did them for the right reasons. And I feel good about that.

That right there, to me, says it all.  Whoever it is has a good base, but also has his work cut out for him.  This is a solid team in need of a few key components to become a serious contender.  I don’t think this team needs to be blown up and start from scratch again, but at the same time I don’t think that this team is ready to contend next season after all of this going on this off season.  One thing’s for sure, though.  It’s still an exciting time to be a Wild fan!