MVN - Most Valuable Network

Miserly moves by the Wild causes fans to question the direction of the team

This July 1st, Wild fans expected to experience some rather profound changes with its roster.  For a few Wild players from last season, playing in Europe appeared to be a more desireable option, included in this was some of the Wild’s more physical players who decided to take their hits and fists to other teams; while for others a hefty payday was enough for them to seek ‘greener’ (both literally and figuratively) pastures.  Yet, I wonder how many of these Wild fans expected to see its team change from one that had a balance of younger and older players that won its first division title to one that is considerably younger and likely going to have far more struggle ahead. 

Enter Wild General Manager and President Doug Risebrough in the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge and as free agency period opened up Tuesday the team felt it made its “most important” moves by bringing back Andrew Brunette and trading for Marek Zidlicky.  While the team’s expansion sister has made a rennaissance of moves one has to wonder if Risebrough in the role of Scrooge told his assistant Chris Snow (in the role of the ever humble Bob Cratchit) ‘Bah humbug’ to making any significant moves after the team failed to land Marian Hossa with a $8 million / year multi-year contract.  After the Wild came up short in their bid to land the versatile Slovak he apparently decided that spending significant money to bring in a quality player to offset the loss of over a 100 points in the departures of Pavol Demitra and Brian Rolston was not necessary and instead opted for 2nd / 3rd liner Antti Miettinen.  While Miettinen is a responsible two-way player; his 34 points he accumulated while playing on Dallas Stars’ line that featured their leading scorer Mike Ribeiro and its most complete player Brendan Morrow appears rather disturbing to say the least.  By osmosis alone, Miettinen should have easily been able to manage more than 15 goals and 34 points on that line; so is it realistic for the Wild to expect that sort of production if he is to play on a line that is less well rounded? 

In Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge would bicker and harumph almost any decision to spend money.  Is Risebrough being a bit too Scrooge-like?  Some of his comments to the Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press make it appear that way.  Risebrough told the Pioneer Press’ John Shipley, “If that’s what we’re selling and people don’t buy it, I’m not worried about losing that type of player. I know I’ll find someone who’s a good fit, and I know the difference between teams is so small.”   In other words I’ll find someone cheaper even if those players are asking for their ‘market value’ price.  It is also rather obvious that like Scrooge (at least in the beginning of A Christmas Carol) that he has little to no regrets about his approach when he added, “I’m comfortable with our identity. If a guy says, ‘It’s not a fit for me,’ I’m glad I know that now versus finding out later on. If a guy says he wants to go somewhere else, that’s OK with me; we’ll find somebody else.”  In other words, if a guy doesn’t want to play for the price we’re willing to play let him go because we’ll find someone (not necessarily equal ability) who will.  That’s hardly comforting to the fans to know this organization believes it will pay only what its willing to as opposed to finding a happy medium between the player and the organization.  Here is the team’s current roster and the salaries that are committed for the 2008-09 season. 

Forwards:

Marian Gaborik ~ $6.33 Million

Mikko Koivu ~ $3.25 Million

Mark Parrish ~ $2.650 Million

Andrew Brunette ~ $2.333 Million

Antti Miettinen ~ $2.333 Million

Eric Belanger ~ $1.75 Million

Benoit Pouliot ~ $1.7 Million

James Sheppard ~ $1.4 Million

Derek Boogaard ~ $950,000

Craig Weller ~ $600,000

Cal Clutterbuck ~ $623,000

Total: 11 forwards for $24.022 Million

Defensemen:

Kim Johnsson ~ $4.85 Million

Brent Burns ~ $3.55 Million

Nick Schultz ~ $3.5 Million

Marek Zidlicky ~ $3.35 Million

Martin Skoula ~ $1.8 Million

*Kurtis Foster ~ $1.0025 Million

Marc-Andre Bergeron ~ $1.107 Million

Erik Reitz ~ $500,000

Total:  8 defensemen for $19.8 Million

Goaltenders: 
Niklas Backstrom ~ $3.1 Million

Josh Harding ~ $725,000

Total:  2 goaltenders for $3.825 Million

Grand Total Committed for 2008/09 thus far: $47.7 Million

Restricted Free Agents still out: Stephane Veilleux, Pierre-Marc Bouchard

It should be noted that with defenseman Kurtis Foster likely to be rehabbing his broken femur beyond the start of the 2008/09 season that only a portion of his just over $1 million dollar contract will count against the cap.  If Foster arrives in December or January he could almost count as half of that $1 million figure according to the Long Term Injury rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  Either way the team projects to be carrying 8 defenseman next season once Foster returns and 5 out of the 8 are somewhat noted for the offensive ability.   

Stephane Veilleux projects to have a modest raise to around $2 million per season and the team has been pleased with his progress into an effective checking winger and penalty killer.  A far more intriguing situation revolves around the possible re-signing of Pierre-Marc Bouchard.  The team does not want to sign him to a one-year deal; but would rather get him signed long-term.  If a long-term deal is out of the question, which is implied by the comments of Bouchard’s agent Allan Walsh then the team will likely seek to trade.  Yet with the milquetoast offensive signings can the team afford to pass up on Bouchard?  With the exception of Marian Gaborik the team is not returning any player who scored over 20 goals last season.  Here is a list of the goals leaving the Wild versus what the team has acquired this summer. 

Departures: 

Brian Rolston - 31 goals

Pavol Demitra - 15 goals

Branko Radivojevic - 7 goals

Aaron Voros - 7 goals

Todd Fedoruk - 6 goals

Keith Carney - 1 goal

Petteri Nummelin - 2 goals

Sean Hill - 2 goals

Total Goals Lost:  71 goals

New Arrivals:

Andrew Brunnette - 19 goals

Antti Miettinen - 15 goals

Marek Zidlicky - 5 goals

Marc-Andre Bergeron - 9 goals

Craig Weller - 3 goals

Total Goals Acquired: 51 goals

This means it is a net loss of 20 goals to the Wild’s lineup which begs the immeidate question, where is the offense going to come from?  In the playoffs against the Avalanche it was a lack of scoring that doomed the Wild to a 1st round exit and now it appears the team’s biggest hurdle is finding ways to bury the biscuit.  There is hope that youngsters James Sheppard and Benoit Pouliot will find the net more than they did last season but neither appears on the cusp of having a breakout year.  Mikko Koivu, who was forced to miss a fair portion of the season due to a lumberjack whack by Vancouver’s Mattias Ohlund will likely improve upon last year’s modest 11 goals during the regular season. 

Without more consistent scorers Rolston to carry the load that will also mean a greater emphasis on Bouchard (if he is still here when the season starts) to score goals as opposed to simply being a playmaker.  The same sort of raised expectations will also be in place for Bloomington, Minnesota-native Mark Parrish to find away to carve out his offensive niche with the team albeit at the start of his 3rd season wth the team.  Parrish is the Wild’s second highest returning scorer from last season with 16 goals but was far more notable for being in Wild Head Coach Jacques Lemaire’s doghouse towards the latter half of the season.  If the team cannot find a way to place Parrish on the 1st or 2nd lines where he could be effective as a goal-mouth sniper the team should seek to trade him even if it means maybe taking mid-level draft picks in return.  To place him on the checking line and in a defensive role is just a waste of his abilities and does nothing to bring about the offense in his game. 

Newcomers Andrew Brunette put up solid seasons with the Avalanche but he was playing on a line that featured Joe Sakic and occasionally the talented sophomore Paul Stastny both of whom will be superior in quality to who ‘Bruno’ will be paired with next year.  Antti Miettinen has some ability to create scoring chances on his own but is hardly as dynamic offensively as Demitra was. 

Other possible contributors are rookies Colton Gillies and Cal Clutterbuck who will have a chance to show what they can do with the big club next season but neither are your classic scorers and far more noted for the energy and physical style so it is unlikely they would be able to give the team a significant boost in goal production.  Yet overall its impossible not to notice how the team appears to have significantly less firepower than it did a season ago.  Considering this was the problem that doomed the team to a 1st round exit despite winning its 1st division title in franchise history it is hardly a shock that many fans believe the team will be worse next season.  Some fans are even wondering if the team will fail in its bid to make the post-season a 4th time in its young history. 

While that may make Wild fans sound greedy; the expectations for the organization have steadily increased the last few years.  The departures of both scorers and fan favorites have annoyed a fanbase that has been among the most loyal and dedicated in the league providing the organization with over 230+ consecutive sellouts.  The Wild’s approach to allowing some of its better talent leave for little or nothing in return has brought up comparison’s to other Minnesota-based sports teams who have in the past been forced to part with stars because they decided they did not wish to pay them what they wanted.  Fans had hoped this organization would be above that because as fans they’ve provided the team with ample revenues and there has not been a season where hockey was played where this team did not end up in the black at season’s end. 

So the big question then becomes is this team going in the right direction?  It will not just be a question Wild fans are asking but also its star player, Marian Gaborik.  Gaborik, who is still under contract for next season might as well be a Restricted Free Agent at this point as the team must consider a way of making a long-term contract extension to its Slovak sniper otherwise it could be forced to trade its prized franchise player for fear of losing him to unrestricted free agency next summer.  The Trencin, Slovakia-native tried to help out by luring his friend Marian Hossa to the team but to no avail.  It was Gaborik’s friendship with Pavol Demitra that prompted Minnesota to trade for him two years ago; so keeping their franchise player happy will likely be difficult when you consider he is now the only Slovak on the team.  With all this being said, Gaborik’s perceptions as to where this team is headed will play a significant role whether he choose to re-sign or rather test free agency.  Wild fans are hoping the team will be able to sign Gaborik to some sort of contract extension this summer before training camp opens in September. 

While the State of Hockey is proud of their NHL team they certainly do not like the thought of taking a step backwards which is what likely to occur this upcoming season.  The honeymoon of expansion is behind this team whether it chooses to acknowledge it or not.  The fans want to see tangible results; and to a degree they got that last season.  Yet now the expectation is not simply making the playoffs but advancing beyond the 1st round.  This summer’s free agency activity appears to even make the prospect of qualifying for the post-season a bit of a long-shot.  The team still has some talented players and in some respects may have improved itself from a season ago.  Yet just because there are some ‘ifs’ and ‘maybe’s’ that could work in the Wild’s favor it does not mean the fans will continue to accept increases in ticket prices if that is not reflected in an improved product on the ice.  New Wild owner Craig Leipold may wish to be a bit more sensitive to that, and as a person who demonstrated a fan-like attitude when he owned the Predators he should have no doubts fans will approach him and ask him tough questions.  Especially so if team struggles due to a lack of scoring.  This will also likely result in more pressure on Doug Risebrough to deliver at a rate he may not have had to when Bob Naegele Jr. owned the team.  It is far from doom and gloom for the Wild at this point; but the fans feel the team’s direction is a bit more ‘cloudy’ than they wish.  Hopefully by the start of the season that direction will be more clear to the team and fans as well.  As for Doug Risebrough; just wish you don’t get a visit from Jacob Marley as the Ghost of Season’s past. 

One step forward, many leaps backwards: the Wild’s underwhelming free agency pickups

If there was a hockey team that resembled a roller coaster, it would be the Minnesota Wild.  Whenever things seem to be heading in the right direction, progress comes to a complete halt, if not it goes into a tailspin of sorts.  On occasion, it feels like that the fans are supposed to feel ‘grateful’ for the simple fact that the Wild are in town, but the honeymoon is over, and has really been over since season two.  The fans hopped back on the roller coaster with the 2003 playoffs.  The letdown during the following season was hard.  The fans re-boarded the roller coaster for the 2005-06 season, as fans throughout the league were just happy to be back watching the game.  Since the lockout, it has been a continual up and down for the fans, running the gamut from management opening the pocketbook one season and then winning the Northwest Division title this past season.

All season, fans have been well aware of the free agency issues facing the team come the off-season.  Since the end of the playoffs, fans watched Chris Simon go to Russia and Petteri Nummelin go to Switzerland.  While those departures don’t hurt that much, it’s the trading of the rights of Brian Rolston to Tampa Bay (Rolston ultimately signed with New Jersey), Todd Fedoruk signing with Phoenix, and Aaron Voros signing with the New York Rangers.  What makes fans nervous, is that we have yet to hear anything regarding the status of Pavol Demitra and Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

Don’t get me wrong, the Wild haven’t been entirely quiet during this year’s opening of free agency.  However, the signings that have happened haven’t exactly been what the fans wanted or expected.  When one wins their division, you truly expect your team to do whatever it takes to push through to the next level.  At the very least, the Wild should have built themselves to go for the Western Conference title.  Looking at this year’s moves, the Wild would be lucky to even make the playoffs.

Early on day one of free agency, the Wild did make some smart moves.  First they saw to re-signing Houston Aeros goaltender Barry Brust to a two-way deal.  Next, they picked up former Wild forward Andrew Brunette.  I like Brunette, however I do have to wonder at his production without the likes of Joe Sakic, Wojtek Wolski, and Paul Stastny around him.  Yes, he’s strong on his skates and excellent behind the net, but the Wild desperately need offense.  At least, Jacques Lemaire won’t have to teach Brunette “the system.”

Another wise move, was the trade of Wild prospect Ryan Jones and a second round pick to the Nashville Predators for defenseman Marek Zidlicky.  While Zidlicky isn’t going to score you a lot of goals, he is decent with setting other players up.  In his past two seasons in Nashville he played 79 games in each season.  For once, it feels like the Wild have finally addressed the overall weakness at the blue line.  Of course, fans felt infinitely better when Kim Johnsson was picked up.  Fans are hoping that Zidlicky is more consistent that Johnsson and that ultimately, Johnsson finds his game again.  The Wild continued in a positive trend by signing Craig Weller in an attempt to regain some of the toughness lost by losing Todd Fedoruk and Aaron Voros.

While these sorts of mid-grade signings were going on, Wild fans were still salivating at the thought of making a big acquisition.  The first big name that fans were excited about was Marian Hossa.  He had multiple teams throwing money at him left and right.  Wild star winger Marian Gaborik took his fellow Slovak out for coffee and tried to convince him to sign with Minnesota.  It has been reported that Minnesota offered him $8 million a season to come to the Wild.  Hossa ended up signing with the Detroit Red Wings for less (albeit a still hefty $7.45 million).  The Wild also lost out on Olli Jokinen, Kristian Huselius, and Markus Naslund. 

Since the Wild lost out on all four of the above names, they made their next (and according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune) their last free agent move.  The excitement comes with the name of Antti Miettinen.  Back the truck up.  It’s almost as if management thought to themselves, “hey, we’re bringing Bruno back, we better find an ‘Antti’ now.”  With the exception of penalty minutes, he appears to be another version of former left winger Antti Laaksonen.  Cue ‘Time Warp’ now.

Right now, the Wild are currently about $10 million under the salary cap.  The Wild desperately need to throw some serious money at Demitra and Bouchard.  While neither of them were the answer to the Wild’s ills last summer, looking at the roster we have now, you’d hate to lose any part of the team’s offense when things look so bleak.

Things are going to get more restless than they already are on the Wild.com message boards.  Sure, playing a bunch of young players like Benoit Pouliot, Colton Gillies, and Cal Clutterbuck might make for great feel-good stories, but when you get down to the bare facts, fans want to watch wins not hard work.  I’ve always said to the parrots that go on and on about how “boring” the Wild are, that I’d rather watch a close game where the Wild win then game after game where they get buried by their opponent.  The same holds true here.  I want to watch winning hockey not hard work hockey that continually loses.

If you think things are hairy now, just wait until the fans remember that the team raised ticket prices for this season.  Especially if that remembering comes during a long losing streak or when come the end of the season the Wild are out of the playoffs.  New Wild owner, Craig Leipold, is going to have a hard time justifying future ticket price raises is this is how the team is going to approach free agency in the future.  At some point, someone is going to have realize that conservative doesn’t win championships.

If my ankle was in better shape, I would spend tomorrow’s 4th of July holiday by playing nothing the childhood game of hopscotch.  However, I’d only play it blindfolded and hopping backwards, because that’s the direction the team seems to be headed in.  Blinded and backwards.  Not a good combination in any business, but it has to be an even worse combination in professional sports.

Minnesota Wild and Free Agency Day 1

Well, it’s almost the end of day one of the National Hockey League’s free agency period.  For the Minnesota Wild, it appears to be an average day one.  It’s not like 2006 where Wild general manager Doug Risebrough seemingly went crazy by picking up free agents Mark Parrish, Kim Johnsson, Niklas Backstron, Petteri Nummelin, and Branko Radivojevic.  However, today wasn’t like those lean years either where Wild fans had to sit back and watch.

Today has been quiet, albeit, productive.  The first big splash for the Wild was the reunion with Andrew Brunette.  When Brunette was left unsigned by the Wild, he picked up and moved his family to Denver to play for division rival, the Colorado Avalanche.  Brunette’s deal is worth $7 million dollars over the next three seasons.

Later in the day, the Wild also signed Craig Weller to a two-year deal worth $1.2 million.  Many are speculating that the acquisition of Weller is to make up for the signings of Todd Fedoruk with Phoenix and Aaron Voros with the New York Rangers.

The kicker came with the signing of Brian Rolston with the New Jersey Devils.  The Wild initially traded him to the Tampa Bay Lightning for conditional picks.  Rolston in turn told the Lightning, that he’d rather test the free agent market.

In minor league hockey news, the Wild re-signed goaltender Barry Brust to a two-day deal worth $1.1 million.  Being that it is a two-way deal, could this be the indication that Minnesota could possibly be looking for a buyer for Niklas Backstrom?

Tomorrow’s write up will feature more in-depth analysis of today’s acquisitions and trades including what it all means for the Wild’s salary cap.  Of course, when one starts digging deeper, you often end up with more questions than answers.  And of course, the big question right now, is what’s going on with Pavol Demitra?

It’s July 1st hockey fans. Do you know where your GM is?

Yes my friends, today is akin to a national holiday for the most avid of hockey fans.  We sit around, watch the free agency tickers at sites like NHL.com and TSN.ca.  Depending on the day of the week, we might grill and have an adult beverage or two.  However, if you’re an American like me, you will be sitting at work, trying to sneak peeks at the ticker while the boss isn’t looking.  For those of you north of the 49th parallel, it really is a national holiday.  Happy Canada Day!  It can only be hoped that your GM isn’t taking a vacation.

Today is the day, where 29 teams try to add missing elements to their respective teams.  That one other team (and in this year’s case, the Detroit Red Wings), are trying to evaluate if they should stay the course, or pick up some additional firepower.

If you’re a Wild fan, you’re most likely approaching this year’s free agency period with a sense of apprehension and even possible dread.  We’ve already been forced to accept one death blow.  On Sunday, it was announced that forward Brian Rolston was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the often dreaded conditional picks.  While it would have been nice to get something far more tangible, beggars cannot be choosers.  The writing was already on the wall, so it was clear that the other 29 teams weren’t going to offer much for Rolston, when they could get him for free today.  What is the most frustrating with the entire Rolston situation, is that Rolston and his agent don’t really negotiate.  There was no compromise, there were no back and forth negotiations.  Steve Bartlett, Rolston’s agent, supposedly doesn’t “do” counteroffers.  They were just going to sit there until the final number was large enough.  Good luck with that in the future Brian.

There is now about one hour until free agency officially opens.  Fans are wondering if their beloved team is going to be the one that takes full advantage, or will they sit back.  Some Wild fans feel that this will be a “reevaluation” year.  A year in which rookies like Colton Gilles and Cal Clutterbuck get their chance to make their debut.  It could also be the year where sometimes languishing first round pick Benoit Pouliot gets a real shot in Saint Paul.  With all the new faces coming in, it could feel like the first two seasons all over again.

While this can be a nerve-wracking time, embrace it.  As any real hockey fan knows, this is the last hurrah of the season until training camp.  Unlike the National Football League and Major League Baseball, hockey becomes a non-factor between the end of this week’s free agency frenzy and training camp.  If you’re new to the game, you will quickly find out just how abysmal this time period can be.

Hopefully, your Free Agency Day gifts are spectacular.  I know I’m hoping to get more cool gifts like a Wii(c) instead of great-aunt type gifts like socks and underwear.

Here we go people.  45 minutes and counting…