MVN - Most Valuable Network

Wild sign Owen Nolan to two-year deal; the signing raises nearly as many questions as it answers

In 2003-04 the Wild shocked a few people when it announced it was signing 1st Overall pick Alexandre Daigle to a three-way deal. Many were surprised because Daigle had not played hockey for the last two years as he tried to pursue a career in acting. The much maligned 1st Overall pick then surprised much of the hockey world by having a solid season for the Wild, and led the team in scoring with 51 points. Daigle could not replicate his scoring touch he had in 2003-04 after the lockout and was relegated to the American Hockey League and has since gone to the Swiss League and been fairly successful there.

Yet the Wild shocked its fans again when it announced it signed another 1st Overall pick, the irrascible Owen Nolan to a two-year deal worth $2.75 million a season. Owen Nolan, 36 is a tough veteran player with over 800 career points to his credit but clearly he is in the twilight of his career. Last season Nolan had 16 goals, 16 assists in 77 games for the Calgary Flames along with 71 penalty minutes. The Belfast, Ireland-native likes to battle his way towards the net and plays with an edge. Perhaps that is what intrigued the Wild to bringing an aging veteran like Nolan to the team. Wild President and General Manager Doug Risebrough told the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Michael Russo, “Owen Nolan is a true power winger who can score goals, play a physical brand, play either wing and take face-offs, we are excited to add a player of his experience and versatility.” Risebrough believes that Nolan can also serve as a leader in the locker room and mentor to younger players.

While having a player with Nolan’s skillset may help offset the loss of leadership from veterans Keith Carney as well as Brian Rolston and some of the scoring lost by the departure of Pavol Demitra the move has had mixed reviews amongst Wild fans. Some fans believe they’re not sure Nolan has much left in the tank; yet if memory serves me correctly he always played rather tenaciously against the Wild and with the news of the Calgary Flames signing Todd Bertuzzi the division just got a little tougher (literally). Ironically even though Nolan was a scorer in earlier days he has evolved into a hard nosed winger who loves to crash the crease so perhaps he was brought in as a possible upgrade over Todd Fedoruk. Although the most common portion of confusion over the signing of Nolan has to do with his 2-year deal worth $2.75 million per season. Many Wild fans felt hurt by the loss of Brian Rolston only to hear he signed for $5 million a season to play in New Jersey the next four years. So the news of the team giving Nolan a $5.5 million contract caused many of these irked fans to go, “What the heck is Doug Risebrough thinking?”

As the title of this article suggests while the acquisition of Nolan does address the need for another potential scoring winger as well as adding a bit more sandpaper to a fairly soft group of forwards minus enforcer Derek Boogaard and young and tough Craig Weller it still leaves fans asking more questions than the team appears to have answers. Here are a few that come to mind.

1. What does this mean for Mark Parrish? With Owen Nolan known to be a net crashing presence does this mean Parrish’s days as a member of the Wild could be over fairly soon? The team as well as Wild Head Coach Jacques Lemaire had a fairly public calling out of the hometown winger during the season earning him a rather large mount of games as a healthy scratch. Nolan is slightly more versatile than Parrish and that may spell doom for his playing days in his home state. This is sure to be an emerging story as the summer goes on.

2. What does this mean for the evaluation of younger players such as Colton Gillies, Benoit Pouliot, and Cal Clutterbuck? With Nolan now in the mix that really only leaves two spots open for youngsters on the roster. Benoit Pouliot likely going to take one of the spots due to the fact Wild General Manager has already said he’ll be one of the centers this season. Cal Clutterbuck was a fireplug in his short stint with the team, and if you have ever had the chance to watch him play for the the Aeros he threw his 5′11″ 213lbs frame with reckless abandon. The other option is to give the smooth skating big body Colton Gillies the opportunity as his size and speed could prove advantageous on the 4th line.  Gillies also played rather effectively after getting called up at the conclusion of his WHL season.  While Gillies size and athleticism is impressive, he might benefit more from increased ice time that could be had in the minors.  Clutterbuck may not have scored much in the AHL; but his work ethic earned him rave reviews and he may be better prepared for the transition to the NHL.

3.  Why did the team decide to pay Owen Nolan over $2 million per season?  The Star Tribune’s Michael Russo discovered that the sticking point in Nolan re-signing was the fact the Flames were not willing to sign him to a two-year deal.  The Wild figured he was worth it and made the deal.  Yet why did the team spend so much money on a player that is over 35 years old?  Making the matter more complicated is that Nolan’s contract puts the Wild just about $3 million under the cap giving the team very limited room to work with.

We shall see if this move pays off but it certainly was a move that virtually no one expected to take place.  The Wild’s roster is basically set even though are still lots of rumors floating around that the team still may be seeking to deal Pierre-Marc Bouchard.  The team is taking both Bouchard and Stephane Veilleux to arbitration and it is speculated the Wild would rather trade ‘Butch’ if they can only sign him to a one-year deal.  Stay tuned for future updates.

Houston gets some help with the acquisitions of Tomas Mojzis and Jesse Schultz

The Houston Aeros are going to receive some more help this season.  Earlier this spring the team signed Maxim Noreau to a multi-year contract.  Now Wild Assistant General Manager Tom Lynn added another defenseman in Tomas Mojzis and right winger Jesse Schultz.   Mojzis used to be a Vancouver Canucks prospect before taking his game to Novosibirsk of the Russian Superleague last year.  Jesse Schultz, the cousin of Wild defenseman Nick Schultz was once signed as a free agent out of junior by the State of Hockey.  Schultz felt the feeling of ultimate success in the American Hockey League as he won a Calder Cup with the Chicago Wolves this spring.  He will be a much needed scorer for a team that struggled mightily to score as he had 26 goals and 66 points for the Wolves.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 8:23 pm and is filed under 2007-08 Trades & Free Agency, Wild Editorials, Wild News & Notes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.