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Wild Blueline, Who's Replacing Soucy and Suter? |
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Now that the Seattle Kraken have officially announced their selections we can officially move on from all the speculation that had preceded yesterday's expansion draft.
We knew that the Wild would lose an asset for sure, but like every other team there was no side deals to be made like we saw with Vegas.
Ron Francis took the safe route with nearly every pick and did very little to help out any of the GMs that had hoped he would pluck a high priced player from their unprotected list, thus freeing up cap room created by the player lost.
Carey Price remained a Canadien, same with James Van Reimsdyk and Jake Voracek with Philly, and Matt Duchesne and Ryan Johanson in Nashville.
Leaving each of those players may not have been the smartest move by Francis, we will have to wait and see what he is able to accomplish with the cap space he has at his disposal.
We know this much, Seattle will have a solid defense, and if Dreidger performs as well as he did this past season behind a much better Florida squad goaltending could be a strength.
As far as the offense is concerned that leaves a lot to be desired with the hope that some of the youngsters that were selected find chemistry with their new teammates and blossom into NHL scorers.
As for the Wild, the attention now turns to replacing Carson Soucy on the blueline, where just three of the Wild's top six defenseman remain under contract today.
We know that Calen Addison is expected to earn a full time role this season, and there is the strong possibility that Ian Cole is resigned. But neither of these guys is anywhere close to being able to step into the skates that Ryan Suter's buyout has left.
Bill Guerin is working his plan and we are just waiting and watching it unfold, but it is still fun to speculate what he has up his sleeve.
The reports of Kirill Kaprizov being offered a KHL contract does little to change the landscape of the contract negotiations. Kaprizov knows that the NHL is where he wants to play and the league that provides him with the greatest earnings potential and all that comes along with that.
It is not an easy process and Guerin must work his magic here, but a lot will also hinge on the supporting cast that is brought in to provide Kaprizov the greatest opportunity to win and excel as an elite talent.
Next up in the Summer of Wild, the NHL draft tomorrow night...
Oh and BTW
I am hearing that all the first round picks will be leaked on social media sometime tomorrow morning
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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