Since Hindsight is 20/20, We’re Looking Ahead

It’s not quite official yet, Wild Nation-ites, but it’s all but that. 

The Wild will miss the playoffs for the second straight season. 

The is still an infinitesimal chance that they could pull it out, but it would involve the Wild coming out and putting together a 5-0 stretch run combined with every single team that they’re chasing tanking. 

In other words: 

It ain’t gonna happen. 

Chuck Fletcher has a long, arduous road ahead of him too, because the cold hard facts have laid out a pretty rocky looking off season, so let’s play some fact and fiction here, shall we? 

FACT: Minnesota has approximately $48.2 million tied up in 18 players for next season. 

FACT: Minnesota has definite needs to be addressed at forward and not a whole lot of roster spaces or money to do so. 

FICTION: The Wild will be able to address their need for a scoring threat in free agency. 

FICTION: There are a number of free agents that could fill the Wild’s needs. 

Now, before you get all up in arms about this, let’s think this through rationally. 

You can cross Ilya Kovalchuk off your wish list.  It ain’t gonna happen unless Fletcher can work some sort of cap magic.  Kovie wants the league maximum and the Wild don’t even have league maximum type of space. 

Patrick Marleau is an intriguing option, but he’s been playing on a line with Jumbo Joe and Heater for most season.  It would be a risk and I don’t know that it would necessarily be a risk worth taking. 

Alexander Frolov?  I don’t know that we want another underachieving European forward. 

Tomas Plekanec? If he doesn’t re-sign with Montreal, their entire ownership will likely be run out of town. 

Ray Whitney?  Not at 37. Olli Jokinen?  No thanks.  Chris Higgins?  Not a chance. 

You get the picture. 

But, looking forward to 2011, there’s more potential there. 

Brad Richards, Joe Thornton, Alexander Semin, Simon Gagne, Martin St. Louis, Patrice Bergeron, Tim Connolly and Michael Ryder are all players that should at least be intriguing for Wild fans. 

Will all of them get to free agency? 

Probably not.  But there’s a good chance that a few might. 

So this off season is likely going to be filled with the Wild filling out their roster with role players — players that aren’t going to set the world on fire, but that aren’t going to be bad pick ups either. 

This off season, though, I think could be telling of how quickly the Wild will be built into the mold of what Fletcher wants. 

Below is a list of what I imagine will be keys to the Wild’s off season: 

• Re-sign Guillaume Latendresse.
  • Say what you will about his performance this season, but Latendresse has proven that he’s a valuable player.  He’s managed to shake just about every single knock that Montreal fans have had against him and has been our best player since coming over in the trade.  The problem with this is that you don’t know what player you’re going to be signing.  Will you be getting the Guillaume Latendresse that was benched or skated on the fourth line in Montreal, or will you be getting his super-powered alter ego, The Tenderness, who has lit the lamp more times in one season than anyone to wear a Wild sweater not named Gaborik or Rolston?  It is conceivable that he’s got contract year-itis, but it’s also possible that the pressure being lifted off of his shoulders is doing wonders for his career.  Listening to him talk, I’d say it’s the latter of the two.  To be safe, though, I can’t see the Wild signing him to longer than a two-year deal with the promise of more talks to come if he keeps it up.
• Lock Mikko Koivu up long-term.
  • This is a no-brainer.  While Koivu may never be a 100+ point player (though he could be with the right line mates), he is the heart and soul of this franchise.  I would like to see him signed to a Datsyuk-ian or Zetterberg-ian contract, meaning the rest of his career for a reasonable cap hit.
• Hit the trade market
  • You’ve no doubt gathered by now that I just don’t believe that vast improvements through the free agent market this season are going to happen.  I’m not saying that it’s an impossibility — just more of an improbability.  Where the Wild are going to make an impact this off season is the same place that they made an impact this season.  The trade market.

Now I know that neither of these three are a huge revelation to anyone.  Latendresse are our two top players this season and Fletcher has shown a penchant to making good trades this season.  But I’d like to stay on that last one for just a moment. 

Trades are going to be made.  Plain and simple. 

And, given the performance of the team down the stretch, I’d say there aren’t many players that are safe.  In fact, I’ll list all the players that I think might be safe from trade. 

Mikko Koivu
Guillaume Latendresse
Martin Havlat
Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Cal Clutterbuck
Casey Wellman
Brent Burns
Cam Barker
Greg Zanon
Josh Harding 

Now, let me be clear.  There are two names on there that are on there due to injury status and not for any other reason.  Bouchard and Harding’s stock has got to be at an all-time low, which is one big reason why I think we’ll see Harding back in Minnesota next season. 

At forward, Koivu and Latendresse are fairly obvious.  Havlat, despite his horrible start to the season, has been pretty good in the new year, with 11 goals and 19 assists for 36 points in 36 games with a minus-four rating and even then Fletcher wouldn’t trade his big free agency pick up this early in the game…Plus, you know, no movement clause.  Clutterbuck is, well, Clutterbuck.  There’s no way that Fletcher is going to trade Wellman after winning out over 21 other teams.  Burns has played his way onto this list over the last couple weeks.  Barker was the centerpiece of the Johnsson trade and there’s no way that he’s going to be traded after giving up so much and Zanon…Well…Yeah. 

This is to say that, if you don’t see your favorite player on this list you might want to at least prepare yourself for the idea that he’s not going to be wearing the Iron Range Red next season. 

I’m not saying that everyone but these ten will be gone.  Far from it.  There are quite a few players in the organization that I think it would take a killer deal for the Wild to agree to trade (Backstrom and Schultz being two of these), but that being said…I truly don’t think that there are many players that Fletcher wouldn’t listen to offers for. 

Overall, the prognosis could be good for Minnesota next season.  The team has, legitimately, five top-four defensemen (Burns, Schultz, Barker, Zidlicky and Zanon) and one more that could turn into one if he’s healthy (Stoner).  They have one world class goaltender (Backstrom) who will be coming off of a down season (can you say incentive?) and potentially another (Harding) who will be looking to increase his value for his UFA day.  Then, at forward they’ll be getting Butch back (God-willing), will have a full season with The Tenderness, and have a young core with a bunch more experience. 

They might not be the best team in the league, but they’re a team that 1) is struggling through an injury-riddled season and 2) have had a few players who have not contributed to the extent that they were expected to. 

Do we have significant holes? 

Without a doubt.  But we also have enough on our roster to overcome these holes and become a potentially dangerous team. 

While they admit it or not, the Wild management is certainly undertaking some semblance of a rebuild.  Our former general manager (who will not be named in this blog) did his best to make sure that his predecessor wouldn’t have an easy job ahead of him, but you can see signs that the organization is headed in the right direction. 

Hopefully they have a roadmap so they don’t get lost along the way.