According to a published report, Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold had to pay a literal king's ransom in order to pull off the coup of all coups.
Leipold saw an opprtunity to acquire not one, but two premiere free agents. He moved rapidly and in stealth-like fashion. He and Wild GM Chuck Fletcher cornered the market on July 1, 2012, when they shocked the hockey world when they landed the two most sought after UFAs, Zach Parise super forward and shut down D Ryan Suter.
The St. Paul Pioneers Press reported in Sunday that there is a high price for the re-branding success of the Minnesota Wild.
A little birdie says the Wild lost $30 million during their abbreviated 2012-13 season, and a cash call was made to team investors in February. The Wild paid bonuses totaling $20 million to sign free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.
Leipold had to spend money to make money.
To make matters worse for the Wild, the NHL lockout only provided Leipold with 24 home dates in order to generate the needed cash flow and revenues to pay the freight for Parise and Suter. The Wild hosted two home playoff games before getting spanked by the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in round one of the playoffs.
The metrics change dramatically changes in Leipiod's favor this season when the Wild will have 41 home dates, and presumably more home playoff dates to recoup the the $30 million.
The Wild have only $2,784,466 in cap space remaining for this season.
For 2014, the Wild have $22,087,244 in available salary cap room.
A Thomas Vanek to Minnesota Wild move will have to wait until next season when the Wild are in a better financial position.
The Austrian sniper will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2014.
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Speaking of Sabres and the state of Minnesota.....
Jack Ramsey, the talented son of former Sabres D and assistant coach, Mike Ramsey, is reportedly going to skip his senior season at Minnetonka High this year to play Junior A hockey for the Penticton Vees in British Columbia. Jack Ramsey, a forward, has committed to play for the University on Minnesota Golden Gophers. Mike Ramsey also played for U Minnesota, He then played for Team USA at the 1980 Olympics. Ramsey was a standout in Buffalo for 13 seasons. He also served as Lindy Ruff's assistant coach for three seasons before heading home to Minnesota to coach for the Wild.
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