Dan Wallace: Wild in Pittsburgh to Face Crosby and Pens

My guess is that Guerin is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand, he probably has Suter and Parise telling the owner that they can compete for the Stanley Cup, just keep trading for other players until they get there.

In reality, they can't and should be dumping players for draft picks.

Someone needs to tell Suter and Parise their days are over and to just play it out and collect their paychecks while the team starts to rebuild.

And the young players they have? They're 3rd/4th liners.

Back when Suter and Parise both signed those gargantuan contracts, I quietly wondered if or when it would begin to limit this team. Seems this pair has had ample time to do something, and I really hate seeing my favorite logo and 2nd favorite colors continue to middle on.

Unfortunately the narrative is the same for the Wild with the exception of now moves that should have been made a couple of years ago that could have produced more will now be more difficult to make with players getting older and the results being similar

As much as i hate to say it, this team looked much more exciting while Koivu was out of the line up for a few weeks... As much as i have been a proponent of Koivu, i think it's time to say good bye to the Wild lifer...

I also believe Zucker is very expendable... they were scoring more with him out

Agree with ya 100% Gump...and Dan. Unfortunately, I think the Wild are going to be stuck with Koivu. I just don't see a decent return for someone who has spent their entire career with 1 team and now their skills have greatly diminished. Staal on the other hand, since his contract is so team friendly, would be more of an attractive trade asset. But would he waive his NTC...from my understanding that he is perfectly happy here, I doubt it.

Parise probably will not ok a trade either. Suter might, as he has looked almost disgusted with the team in recent weeks. I think Spurgeon has a limited NTC, so he should be viable to trade. Another option is Dumba. But the problem there would be trading low. I can also see Dubnyk being shopped right now as well. I don't see it happening, but Zuccarello might bring a good return as well. I don't think someone like Brodin should be traded away.

As for the young guys....Donato, Greenway and Eriksson Ek are possibilities. I doubt Kunin is on the block. And I am a little afraid of the idea of trading away Greenway. I would like to know why the GEEK line was broken up. I hear that BB hasn't been all that impressed with Greenway lately, but that line just worked.

Basically put, Guerin has a HUGE whole to dig this franchise out of, with very limited cap space over the next 2 years. And after these 2 years, you have players like Fiala, Brodin, Foligno and Dubnyk that will be FAs. We do know that at least 1 decent LW is going to moved to open up a spot for Kaprizov. So there will be moves that HAVE to be made.

One little nuggest to think on....did Guerin sign Spurgeon to the contract that he did, with the idea that he was going to move him sooner, rather than late, opening up a decent amount of cap space?

I agree with you gentleman. In fact I believe I posted similar thoughts about the captain a few weeks ago. While he was injured was during the points in 10 or 11 straight and that 5 game winning streak. The Wild played faster. Similar to the trade for Hanzal a few years ago and how that slowed that team down. Now a few years later players are older and slower. Respect due for the captain but its tough to play in todays faster and more open NHL.