Dan Wallace: Guerin: Wild Goaltending An Issue

Wild have over 10M more cap space when they have Koivu and Galchenyuk off the books

Will Granlund return?

I agree that goaltending is a big issue for sure and I think BG should be looking at a guy like Robin Lehner. I believe several teams will be after him including Edmonton, Calgary, Carolina, Minnesota and Detroit. Chicago and Buffalo as well but Lehner unlikely to want to go there. I realize Holtby and Markstrom are also out there but I like Lehner better. Lehner might even resign is Vegas and Fleury could be on the block but unlikely. If he steals the show from Fleury and wins a cup this is a possibilty.
Finding that center will be more difficult and I would use Dumba as the main piece to acquire one. Dumba is good but will never be the guy we hoped for.

Will Granlund return?
- G - Man

I think he could at a fraction of his previous salary. Sure funny how it works out as most thought the Wild got raped initially in the Fiala/Granlund trade including me but wow Fiala has emerged as the Stars best player.

We have been so focused on finding a goal scorer that we have never had, we forgot we also need someone that can stop the puck! No goal scorers, go goaltenders, no decent centers, NO HOPE. We have a better chance of finding a cure for Covid-19 in the next 5 minutes then winning the cup in the next 5 years

Well it's no secret in the Wild forum that I am not and have never been a big fan of Stalock... I don't mind him as a back up, but in all honesty, i'd prefer he just not be on the roster period... THat said, i think it's time to give Kahkonen a try, i think he's the best shot Billy has at a bonafide starter as far as keeping things in house goes...

Dubnyk can start the season and they can ease Kap in as the back up until he's ready to be the man.

I'm gonna disagree with ya Gump, somewhat. I do agree that Kahkonen needs to be rostered next season. But I think if he wins the starters spot in pre-season, then it should be his. But I would rather keep Stalock and his cheaper pricetag on the roster over Dubnyk. If BG can find ANY willing partner to take DD, do the trade in a heartbeat. Don't let them have the chance to back out of the trade.

The Wild are nowhere close to be a Cup contender. Time to revisit the Parise trade. Time to dangle Greenway, Donato and maybe even Kunin. As much as it pains me, time to discuss what a Dumba package can get the Wild. The scary part there is the Wild's defense is about to become old and slow, just as the forwards are being changed out. Can Mennell or Belpedio play along side Brodin? How long before Addison is NHL ready? The Suter/Spurgeon pairing is about to start getting long in the tooth. And both have started showing signs of slowing down.

I think BG has to basically bite the bullet and do some buyouts. Rask and Dubnyuk are the ones that I would be dropping. Staal has 1 year left, so keep him on...and if he wants a trade to a contender before trade deadline, give him that last shot. I have a lot more, but I have to get back to work.