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Wild Strike Out On Raanta. Miller Next? |
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A team to watch closely this month as the NHL entry draft draws closer is the Minnesota Wild. According to Mike Russo of the Star Tribune, Minnesota, like many NHL squads, will begin their organizational review meetings this week. Wild GM Chuck Fletcher will meet with his hockey operations and scouting departments in an effort to get gauge the time and temperature inside the Wild organization.
Fletcher has said that finding a #1 goaler will be his first priority this offseason. Not just ANY goalie. A #1 goalie.
You'll recall that the Wild were knocked out in round one of the NHL playoffs last months largely due to their inconsistent goaltending. Backstrom was injured in warm-ups early in the Hawks series, and back-up Josh Harding was literally forced from the frying pan to the fire. Harding hadn't played since January (due to his own personal health issues) then was asked to perform heroics agaisnt a well-oiled scoring machine in the Blackhawks. The Wild would lose in the end, despite Harding's best efforts to thwart their offensive invasion. Moving forward, questions abound as to whether Harding can start 65-70 games in the NHL. Kuemper is just a kid and he's not ready for the speed and the silky mitts of the NHL.
Fletcher has more goaltending questions than he has answer at this point. He and his lieutenants will try to solve their problem between now and the NHL Entry Draft in Newark on June 30.
Wild veteran net minder, Niklas Backstrom, is about to become UFA on July 5. His four year $24 million contract extension will expire shortly. Fletcher can opt to sign Backstrom, who is 35 years of age right now, to a long term extension that will likely allow the goalie to retire with the Wold, or, Fletcher can opt to not sign Backstrom and allow him to dip his toe in the unrestricted free agency pool where some desperate NHL GM will no doubt overpay for his services.
If the Wild choose to pass on re-upping Backstrom, that would leave Fletcher with two options:
1). Form a "1A" - "1B" tandem out of Josh Harding and Darcy Kuemper, and ride it for as far as it will take them.
2). Make a trade to secure a bonafide #1 goalie.
When the Wild executed the Jason Pominville trade with Buffalo, they said goodbye to their future starting goalie in Matt Hackett. Fletcher sacrificed his future #1 goalie to add a veteran scorer who excels on special teams. Now, he's left with a scant few options tpo bolster his net for the coming season.
On Monday morning, The Wild missed out on their would-be goalie of the future when Finnish tender Antti Raanta agreed to contract terms with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Juha Hiitela of Urheilusanomat tweeted the Raanta signing on Monday morning.
Assat Pori also tweeted the news:
Raanta, 24, brilliantly led Assat Pori to a championship in the Finnish Elite League this past season. Raanta and Sabres sniper Joel Armia were teammates at Assat. Raanta was brilliant for Finland at the recently concluded World Championships on Helsinki and Stockholm where he posted an impressive 2.09 GAA and .928 save % in 7 tournament games.
Raanta was voted the regular-season MVP, Goalie of the Year and Playoff MVP in the Finnish Elite League.
The Wild were hoping that they could land him as a possible replacement for the aging, more expensive Backstrom.
No such luck. The Blackhawks snatched up Raanta, who will likely serve as a back-up to Corey Crawford in the future, once Ray Emery's current contract expires.
Fletcher may come calling to ask about Ryan Miller's availability in the days and weeks to come.
Miller would immediately stabilize the net in "The State Of Hockey" and would allow the Wild to compete on a nightly basis with the best of the West.
Fletcher currently has $9.1 million in available cap space, however, he must first make decisions on his RFAs and UFAs.
PM Bouchard, Brett Clark, Matt Cullen and Nick Backstrom are his UFAs.
Jared Spurgeon, Justin Faulk, Cal Clutterbuck, and Carson McMillan are his RFAs.
Fletcher can create needed cap space to trade for and sign Ryan Miller by trading Dany Heatley who has one year remaining ($7.5 million) on his contract and will become UFA next July. Devin Setoguchi has one year remaining at $3 million.
The Sabres would be wise to ask for Charlie Coyle to be involved in any deal with teh Wold for Miller. Coyle is a gritty two-way centre who can score. he'd become an immediate fan favorite in Buffalo. I'd also be asking for skilled Finnish centre Mikael Granlund, who would be a perfect fit to play the pivot for Joel Armia.
Fletcher and Regier have recent trade history. Its possible that they have already spoken to one another about Ryan Miller, who has one year remaining on his current Buffalo contract.
Its appearing more and more likely that Buffalo will form their own "1A"-"1B" tandem with Jhonas Enroth and Matt Hackett.
The Wild would excited their already rabid fan base by trading for the one piece the puzzle that can lead them to the Western Conference Finals next season. That missing piece is Ryan Miller.
To say that the Wold shocked the world last July by signing the two biggest chauna UFAs in Zach Parise and Ryan Suter would be the understatement of the century. No one in the hockey world saw Minnesota's UFA moves coming. Thats why it shouldn't be scoffed at the Fletcher will exercise every option available to him in order to land the #1 goalie that he covets. The Wild didn't trade for Pominville and add UFAs Parise and Suter for window dressing. They are committed to a cause: winning a Stanley Cup. Upgrading their net will go a long way to elevating the Wild from the "pretender" group to a bonafide Cup contender.
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