July 1st- Free Agent Frenzy

[archerystud]

So will the Wild add any more offense up front?

Assuming Foster comes back some time next year then I think the Wild have too many defensemen.

I think the Devils paid too much for Rolston. Most of the players I was hoping for the Wild to land are now gone (Jokinen and Niklas Hagaman). There are a couple of other good players left as long as we don't pay too much.

I'm hoping we trade a defensemen for some more scoring up front.

[gofishingtom]

Been reading alot about the players in free agency don't really want to come to minnesota because of the coach and his philosophy...we were suppose to get markus naslin didnt work out..we sign a 15/yr goal scorer from dallas.. not going to help.. lost rolstan 30/yr and demitra 25/yr and havent replaced any of it..Going to be a long year i believe...

[maros91]

Wild signed Owen Nolan to a 2yr deal last night. They also made an offer to Brendan Morrison but in signing Nolan that is most likely off the table. When they sign Bouchard and Veiluex to there deals they will be have about 4 mil in cap space. With the current roster they have I see the Wild finishing 4th in the division and missing the playoffs. Calgary, Edmonton, Colorado, Wild, and Vancouver. Even if Vancouver signs Sundin they will still be last. If the Wild are out by the trade deadline look for them to trade Gaborik and fire LeMaire and Riseborough and get this place more attractive to free agents.

Here is the curent roster:

C- Koivu, Mikko

Bouchard, Pierre-Marc

Sheppard, James

Belanger, Eric

LW- Gaborik, Marian

Brunette, Andrew

Miettinen, Antti

Boogaard, Derek

Veilleux, Stephane

RW- Nolan, Owen

Parrish, Mark

Weller, Craig

D- Burns, Brent

Schultz, Nick

Johnsson, Kim

Zidlicky, Marek

Bergeron, Marc-Andre

Foster, Kurtis

Skoula, Martin

I like our D-men but who is going to score besides Gabby. Nobody on this roster will score more than 30 goals besides Gabby and maybe Koivu. I would like to see Benoit Pouliot get more of a shot this year, I think he will, Weller will not play every game this year as he will be a healthy scratch some of the times.

[archerystud]

They are going to need some more scoring elsewhere. I can see the young guys contributing more and I would say there is more scoring ability on the blue line. However, Gabby is going to always see the shutdown line now. They need some big years out of Nolan or Parrish or ???

I wouldn't mind seeing them trade Skoula or Bergeron for some up front talent (still have Rietz who could play).

[fishin4fun85]

No way...they aren't getting rid of Gabby!! And Lemaire will still be around at the end of the season...I see last year as a success even though we didn't get what we wanted....Also, we lost Rolston, the leader in the locker room, but that always means that someone else has to fill the void....and we got plenty of talent for that to happen!! This year will be good!!

[walleyes12]

Good points fishin4fun85! Gabby is going to be around for awhile! I also think this year will be a good year

[solbes]

Here is the curent roster:

C- Koivu, Mikko

Bouchard, Pierre-Marc

Sheppard, James

Belanger, Eric

LW- Gaborik, Marian

Brunette, Andrew

Miettinen, Antti

Boogaard, Derek

Veilleux, Stephane

RW- Nolan, Owen

Parrish, Mark

Weller, Craig

D- Burns, Brent

Schultz, Nick

Johnsson, Kim

Zidlicky, Marek

Bergeron, Marc-Andre

Foster, Kurtis

Skoula, Martin

I'm certainly not blown away by this lineup. Not very deep at either wing and only have one good center in Koivu (I love this guy!). Assuming we sign Bouchard, we at least keep a nice setup guy. But who's he going to pass to? No offense to Brunette, because I liked him when he was here before, but he wasn't exactly a speedster in '03. Still he's had decent production in Colorado.

I'm not upset by losing Demitra. He obviously had talent, but how many times last year did he have a good angle to shoot at and passed it off to Gabby instead? Take the shot when they give it to you sir. Losing Rolston hurts, no question. I don't want the team to deal Gabby, but we still have at least one large hole to fill if it makes sense for him to stay long term.

[so haaad]

Demitra signed a two year deal with...Vancouver.

Personally I think he had a terrible couple of years with the Wild. I still remember all the talk when the Wild first got him...Demitra and Gabby together on the same line.

[inthecattails]

Unfortunatly we gave up O'Sullivan to get him!!! He had a nice season last year...22 goals and 53 points...plus he was a center.

[so haaad]

Yeah, that one didn't turn out so great for the home team.

[Crappiechaser]

Im not watching anymore! Aaron Voros is gone! Hometown boy is gone! Rolston is gone! Get rid of Gaborik, Sure he can get you to the playoffs but when your there hes worse than a first year peewee.