Wild to Gaborik: “No, really, we’re not that bad!”
Gaborik's new linemate
Has it really come to this?
Doug Risebrough and assistant GM Tom Lynn had to go to Slovakia and tell Marian Gaborik, the team’s only real offensive star, that they’re really, really not as bad as they seem. Really, they’re trying hard and everything!
The Wild gave Gaborik specifics on everything it tried to do, especially this summer and at the deadline. Gaborik knows the Wild went after Marian Hossa because he was involved in the recruitment. The Wild wanted guys like Kristian Huselius and Brendan Morrison, but they chose to go elsewhere. After that it was an under-supplied market.
Risebrough told Gaborik that the Wild went hard after a center at the deadline, especially Olli Jokinen, and I’ve since found out, Mats Sundin. The Wild thought it was going to land Peter Forsberg, and when he chose Colorado, it thought it had Jokinen. But at the last second, Florida decided not to trade him, and like at the Draft in June, the Wild wasn’t going to give up Mikko Koivu or James Sheppard to get him.
All this, of course, ignores the fact that many teams TRIED to get these players, and all but one per player failed. Gaborik, for all his prodigious talents, is still almost a Robinson Crusoe figure, stranded on an island of Minnesota’s offensive malaise.
What’s that you say, Mr. Risebrough? There are lots of fancy charts and graphs (possibly in pie format) that demonstrate Gaborik getting a ton of help so he doesn’t have to blow out his groin again carrying the entire team’s offensive load? Interesting.
But at last week’s dinner, Risebrough and Lynn showed Gaborik that, since the lockout, he’s fourth in the NHL in goals per game (behind Alex Ovechin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley), first in even-strength goals per minute played and tied for second in goals per 60 minutes played (behind Ovechkin).
Minnesota Wild 2008 offseason forward transactions:
Out: Brian Rolston (31 goals), Mark Parrish (16), Pavol Demitra (15).
Those are the three non-Gaborik highest-scoring forwards on the Wild last season, and yes, the team’s goal totals went 42, 31, 16, 15, 13 (that last one was the retained Eric Belanger. Eric Belanger is their second-highest returning forward scorer. Eric. Belanger).
In: Andrew Brunette (19), Owen Nolan (16), Antii Miettinen (15).
Replacing 62 goals from forwards with 50 is somehow acceptable in Risebroughland, where up is down and Eric Belanger is a viable second-line option.
I thought this was interesting too:
The Wild apparently gave Gaborik an inside-look at its future plans, and the fact owner Craig Leipold is more than willing to bring in players in future years of Gaborik’s potential contract. And a big part of the meeting was an attempt to sell Gaborik that he has a chance to grow with Koivu, Sheppard, Brent Burns, P-M Bouchard, Nick Schultz, Colton Gillies, etc.
Okay, but if the perception is that Minnesota is not an organization that is conducive to scoring (and Gaborik being the only player in team history to actually break a point-a-game pace bears that out), then why the hell would any legitimate high-scoring free agent, Gaborik included, want to play in Minnesota?
Yes, Gaborik, who will almost certainly play out the final year of his contract, can score in Minnesota with no help, and that’s great, but he can score even more elsewhere with it. He doesn’t play in a bubble in St. Paul, but he’s about as close as anyone in the league.
