As a Wild fan, I am resigned because Rolston did not re-sign. Granted 4 years at $5 million per season is a ton of money, in my opinion, the Wild should have ponied up given the fact that they made a mistake by not re-signing him last offseason or during the regular season when they could have and probably have gotten away with paying $4 million for 3 years. This franchise and their management have made mistakes before, but nothing of this import. The only other mistake that left me feeling this way is when they left Andrew Brunette go and opted to go with Alexander Daigle instead. While hindsight is 20-20, management should be given kudos for admitting that mistake and then ultimately correcting it yesterday by bringing Bruno back into the fold. However, Bruno is no Rolston. Don't get me wrong. I love Brunette. He is the heart and soul of this team. In terms of leadership, he will fully replace Rolston. However, allow yourself to imagine what this team would have been like had they kept Rolston, brought in Brunette, Zidlicky and Weller and then focused on a quality center that could win faceoffs and score.

Regarding Zidlicky and Weller, I like the offense that Zidlicky may bring to the defense, however from reading the Nashville comments, it appears that he is prone to taking alot of dumb penalties and his offensive focus results in alot of turnovers. Also, the Wild did give up quite a bit for this guy in Ryan Jones and a 2nd round draft pick. In the end, I will trust management's decision here and see what happens.

On Weller, here's what I know. He's 27, 6 ft-4 in, 220 lbs. Last year was his first NHL season with the Coyotes. He played in 59 games, scoring 3 goals and assisting on 8 goals. He finished the season -7 and had 80 penalty minutes. Also, he is a right wing which is somewhat of a concern for me as I was finally hoping to see both Irmen and Kalus come up and play next year. Weller has a one way contract and, as such, either Irmen or Kalus will stay in the minors.

It has been rumored by Russo that the Wild are in talks with left winger Kristian Huselius whom the Wild almost got a few years ago for Dupuis. The Wild could have had him back then, but management got cold feet at the last second, didn't pull the trigger and Calgary came swooping in and grabbed him. Comments from Calgary fans are that he is a one way player and will disappear for half a season. That said, maybe he's Rolston's attempted replacement as point production in goals and assists are concerned.

Lastly, we still need a center. None of the top centers in free agency have been gobbled up yet at the feeding frenzy.

Looking over my "wish list", here's what I was hoping for (one or more player from each category):

Center: Jason Williams, Brendan Morrison or Michael Peca.
Left Wing: Kristian Huselius, Andrew Brunette, or Ladislav Nagy.
Right Wing: Rolston, Demitra, Michael Ryder or David Vyborny
Defense: Ron Hainsey, Dmitri Kalinin, Mike Commodore or Brooks Orpik

All centers are still available. We have Brunette and are hot on Huselius' trail. Rolston and Ryder are gone. I'm not sure what Vyborny's status is and I'm not sure management wants Demitra back, although, at this point, I would take him. Defense has been addressed via trade and I am pleased with that decision as opposed to over-paying in the free-agent market. Perhaps we will see a trade involving a right wing. Speaking of which, both Gaborik and Bouchard have been the source of speculation regarding trades. Eklund has Gaborik to Toronto as an (E2) meaning a low level source has mentioned this to him. What does Toronto have that could possible entice us to trade Gaborik to them? Perhaps their first round draft pick next year which could very well lead to Tavares or some other highly touted prospect. Apart from that, I just don't see this deal happening. That being said, I still maintain that Gaborik will not re-sign, if the Wild are out of the playoff hunt he will be traded at the trade deadline and will have some serious value and after his playoff run, he will opt to hit the open market and allow another team to overpay by a mile for his services. Gaborik will be the Sundin/Hossa of next year's UFA buffet! Ditto that scenario, but to a lesser degree, regarding PMB. I think Butch's agent is the same agent that Gabby and Dupuis had when the held out. So the writing is on the wall there.

Here's a look back at the ranking of the free agent forwards by James Mirtle to assist you in judging what the Wild have done so far:

Points Per Minute - Forwards
1. M. Sundin
2. M. Svatos (RFA)
3. A. Brunette
4. W. Wolski (RFA)
5. P. Demitra
15. M. Hossa
18. O'Sullivan (RFA)
19. P-M. Bouchard (RFA)
21. J. Sakic
22. J. Pandolfo
25. R. Malone
31. R. Robatille
35. M. Naslund
68. B. Rolston
76. D. Moore
88. S. Veilleux (RFA)

Grading Free Agents by Points (Forwards with 35 or more points and Defensemen with 20 or more points)
Forwards:
1. M. Sundin
2. J. Jagr
3. M. Hossa
6. P-M. Bouchard
7. B. Rolston
8. A. Brunette
10. M. Naslund
11. P. Demitra
12. C. Perry
15. P. O'Sullivan

Hopefully, the Wild will continue to dive into the free agent pool and whatever they don't accomplish there, perhaps can be addressed this offseason on the trade block. And while I am saddened at the departure of Brian Rolston, I wish both him and the Wild well as their futures are concerned. I welcome back Bruno with open arms and I look forward to seeing what Zidlicky and Weller can do for our squad. Lastly, a fond farewell to Todd Fedoruk and Aaron Voros. Good luck fellas. We'll look for ya when you come to the X next year.

As always, Go Wild!

Join the Discussion: » Comments » Post New Comment

» Post-Season and Player/Position Thoughts (Koivu Must Go?)

» We've Been Here Before Haven't We?

» Everything Going According to Script. Only Question, Which Script?

» Wild Proves They Can Play With The Best. Now It's Time to Beat the Best.

» Enough About the Refs. We Ain't Dead Yet. Remember 2003!