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Wild add depth by trading for Corey Locke and signing Krys Kolanos; Lineup preview

During the offseason, not all of the moves are made with the intent of improving the big club; some considerations are made with the intent of improving the farm team as well as adding a level of organizational depth. The Wild traded the enigmatic defenseman Shawn Belle to the Montreal Canadiens for centre Corey Locke. Belle was originally acquired by the Wild in the Willie Mitchell trade with Dallas. The 6′1″ 230lbs Belle never was able to match his natural athleticism with production on the ice at the minor pro level; meanwhile Corey Locke has been very productive at the AHL level. Locke, the former CHL player of the year in 2003 has been continued to be a dynamic scorer for the Hamilton Bulldogs the way he was with the Ottawa 67’s where he was a teammate of former Wild prospect Matt Foy. Despite his diminutive 5′9″ 168lbs frame Locke had 30 goals and 72 points in 78 games played last season. With Minnesota using Benoit Pouliot as one of its centres an injury could see Locke in a Wild uniform in a hurry.

The Wild also added another centre to its organizational depth by signing free agent Krys Kolanos. Kolanos was a former 1st round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes who brought his offense to the Quad City Flames last season. The 6′2″ 200lbs centre paced the Quad City Flames to 30 goals 63 points along with 84 penalty minutes last season. The Calgary, Alberta-native, Kolanos has had a rather nomadic professional career bouncing from the Coyotes, Oilers, Penguins, Hurricanes and Red Wings organizations to stints in European leagues in Finland, Germany and Switzerland.

The additions of Locke, Kolanos as well as Jesse Schultz is an acknowlegement the Houston Aeros could use an influx of offense. The Aeros were one of the lowest scoring teams in the American Hockey League, and used its defensive style and great goaltending to win low scoring games but it could not find enough offense to get beyond the first round as it was deluged by the more offensively gifted Rockford Ice Hogs. Kolanos and Locke give the team two more seasoned options at centre if injuries take their toll the way they did last season. Kolanos would likely be the #5 center and Locke the #6 center for the team. With news that the Vancouver Canucks signing Pavol Demitra the lineup is more or less set for next season. Here is how the Wild’s depth chart appears as of right now.

Centers:

1. Mikko Koivu

2. Eric Belanger

3. James Sheppard

4. Benoit Pouliot

Left Wing:

1. Pierre-Marc Bouchard

2. Andrew Brunette

3. Stephane Veilleux

4. Derek Boogaard

Right Wing:

1. Marian Gaborik

2. Owen Nolan

3. Mark Parrish

4. Antti Miettinen

5. Craig Weller

Defense:

1. Kim Johnsson

2. Nick Schultz

3. Brent Burns

4. Marek Zidlicky

5. Martin Skoula

6. Marc-Andre Bergeron

7. Erik Reitz

Goaltenders:
1. Niklas Backstrom
2. Josh Harding
3. Barry Brust

Wild name Matt Shaw an Assistant Coach

The Wild also announced they’ll be adding another member to the team; this time behind the bench as the team added Matt Shaw as an assistant coach. Shaw was the team’s video coach last season and was responsible for putting together the tapes to scout the opposition. The Phoenix, Arizona-native will join fellow assistant coaches Mike Ramsey, Mario Tremblay and Bob Mason. Shaw has a long minor league hockey coaching history with stints in the ECHL, UHL, IHL, and AHL despite just being 42 years old. According to Wild.com, the team chose to promote Shaw who had been an assistant coach in Houston the last 7 seasons because they felt he was ready to be an assistant at the NHL level. Hopefully an extra set of eyes and a savvy hockey mind will result in better coordination on the ice.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 8:16 pm and is filed under 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.