Tuesday night's game was well in hand. With five minutes to go, I left my perch in the press box and headed downstairs to beat the traffic. The Wild were sure to win, right? As I left early, the press box attendant joked that she hoped the Wild didn't melt down in the last five minutes like they recently did against San Jose. Yeah right. As I glanced up at the game being shown on the wall on the main floor of the Xcel Energy Center, what was once a 4-2 Wild lead was now a 4-4 tie which eventually went on to be a Nashville win, in regulation no less. Meltdown. Collapse. Call it what you will, but the Wild choked, again. While there is a ton of discontent among Wild fans, I for one am really not that upset and think that there is a silver lining. This game was really a snap shot of this season for the Wild. A good couple of months and then they piss it away.

Coming out of the All-Star break, I was comfortable with where the Wild was positioned in the Western Conference (8th). Sure they had a string of games that put them atop the Western Conference and, at times, the entire NHL. However, I think we all knew deep down that it wouldn't last. How could a bunch of rag tag NHL-er's continue at that pace? Then the injury bug hit, unfortunately to more top six players than bottom six players and now the discord between coaches and players is playing out publicly in front of the media i.e. the Zidlicky-Yeo feud.

My opinion is that this is the best thing for this franchise at this time. Sure, ownership wants to make the playoffs. But, for what purpose? An extra two games beyond the regular season? That, in my opinion, would be a disaster for the growth of this franchise. It would lead to another mid-round draft pick. Enough! No need to fire the GM or the coaches. They are doing just fine. The Wild need to focus on re-building.

The Minnesota Wild is a franchise nearing a corner. They have seven players who will be unrestricted free agents at the end of this season (3 forwards, 3 defensemen and a goalie) and another 6 restricted free agents (4 forwards and 2 defensemen). Not to mention an unhappy Marek Zidlicky who, it seems, would gladly waive his no-trade clause to get the hell out of dodge a year early.

Regarding the UFA's, at forward, the Wild will probably try and extend/re-sign Brodziak and Peters, however the Brad Staubitz expiriment may well be over. On the blue line, my guess is that Stoner is extended/re-signed on the blue line, but Lundin and Zanon may not be. If I were a betting man, I'd wager that Lundin is back and Zanon is not. And then in goal there is the dilemma of Josh Harding. Backstrom has another year on his contract at six million dollars and, for a while at least, Harding seemed to be pushing hard for the starting spot. However, I just don't see Harding's game play rising to the level of Backstrom's in goal for the Wild. Again, I would guess that the Wild try to move Harding by the trade deadline for assets, unless of course teams pushing for the playoffs are interested in taking on Backstrom, at which point I say trade Backs and extend/re-sign Harding. Because, let's face it, this team needs to re-build. And when you're re-building, it's often not associated with winning. Backstrom is a goalie that can backstop a team for a deep run in the playoffs. Harding I see as more of a bridge getting this franchise from here to there and through it's re-building process.

Regarding the RFA's, at forward, Latendresse may not be back. Mike Russo of the Star Tribune has speculated that given his injury riddled tenure with the Wild, it would be hard to gamble on him any further for this club. That's too bad. I liked him when he wasn't injured and was playing. But, the departure of Lats opens a spot on the top two lines. The rest of the RFA's are young guys whom Yeo has coached down in the AHL (with the exception of Nick Johnson, but Yeo has some familiarity with him from his days in Pittsburgh, not to mention the fact that he has worked out well for the Wild this year) and, as such, I believe the rest get qualified.

By my count that's 3 openings (2 forwards and 1 defenseman) plus a goaltending position plus Zidlicky and maybe more if the Wild get smart and become sellers at the trade deadline. Bring up your young guns from Houston and get them ready for next year. Because, next year, the Wild turn the corner in my opinion.

Not that this means they will win the Stanley Cup or even make the playoffs. However, not only have the Wild had the opportunity to play a ton (13 by my count) of AHL "prospects" this season due to the extremely high number of total man games missed due to injury, 188 coming in to the game against Nashville, but the Wild also have non-AHL prospects beginning to make their way to the NHL starting next year. Of note in the not too distant horizon, you have guys like Brett Bulmer, Charlie Coyle, Zack Phillips, Jason Zucker, Jonas Brodin, Mikael Granlund, Johan Larsson, Johan Gustafsson and Dennis Endras. Granted, the Wild would be foolish to open the NHL flood gates to most of the non-AHL prospects and risk ruining their development ala Doug Risebrough, you can bet that a couple of these guys make the big club out of the shoots. In the meantime, the boys from Houston compete for a spot on the big club during this transitionary period and, within five years, the Minnesota Wild could finally become relevant in the NHL and for a long time.

However, I don't think you get there by being buyers at the trade deadline. The Wild's play from here forward will determine whether or not the club is looking at buying or selling at the deadline. If I were in the loop on the conversation, I would urge the club to stand pat and not buy if it looks like they have a shot at making the playoffs and definitely consider being sellers if their struggles continue, which they likely will.

Open up some spots and re-build. Go out and get quality free agents this summer. Get some high quality talent at the draft with higher draft picks. Look in the college ranks and over in Europe for quality free agent signings. Continue building your depth in Houston. Get to a point where we can lose a top six forward and have the depth to cotinue without that player(s). Get to a point where we aren't worrying about qualifying for the playoffs, but wondering how far and how deep each season's playoff run will take us. Pittsburgh is obviously the model that the Wild have chosen to follow with their selection of Fletcher as GM and Yeo as coach, both products of the Penguins. Look at them now. No Crosby? No problem.

Unfortunately, the only sure fire way of getting there is by re-building. Unfortunately, re-building is a painful process. Just ask the fans in Pittsburgh and in Chicago. However, I would venture to guess that most fans in those markets would tell you it was well worth it in the end, seeing their team win a Stanley Cup.

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