WildHBcommunity: Minnesota Wild Needs Action Not Words From Fletcher
The Wild’s Young Core has Earned Respect Deserves to Stay in MN
Through the adversity created by the brutal string of injuries the Minnesota Wild has endured, the young core of baby faced forwards has taken a step forward in their growth and development at the NHL level. I will never deny my bias towards the up and coming types over marginal talent veterans but I believe that proof positive this team is better represented with the group of young players in the lineup every night.
Once Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Jared Spurgeon, and Josh Harding are ready to return to the lineup, it will mean less roster spots and ice time will be available. The first move towards clearing up the bottom of the roster obstruction was placing Zenon Konopka on waivers. Undoubtedly that decision was made by general manager Chuck Fletcher because Konopka was going to be claimed on waivers freeing up a roster spot and cap space. I also believe if there was even a slight chance Mike Rupp or Dany Heatley would be claimed by another team on waivers they might already be gone and probably Konopka would still be here instead.
I think it was so important for the Wild to get their season back on track with significant contributions from their young core. Maybe more important than the move up in the standings by the Wild, is the pressure it puts on the front office to make something happen ahead of the upcoming movement deadlines. The first will arrive February 7th at 3pm ET in the form of an Olympic Freeze that will thaw February 23rd at 1159pm ET. The actual NHL trading deadline will take place March 5th 3pm ET but the leveraging and posturing is sure to be in full effect before and after the Olympics as a setup to the ultimate final minutes to moves players via trade.
Wild Brass Should Feel Pressure to Make a Significant Move
Fletcher has been quoted multiple times the past month as working the phones to see if a trade can be worked to help the Wild now. Knowing how Fletcher operates any major move that will occur in season at either of the impending movement deadline will not only need to make the Wild better this season but make sense in the years to come. The obvious name on the tip of everyone’s tongue is Islanders winger Thomas Vanek. It is easy to dismiss trading for Vanek in season because he will be a free agent this summer. Truth be told the worst case scenario for Vanek to Minnesota this summer via free agency is occurring with him playing so well on the Islanders top line with superstars John Tavares and Kyle Okposo.
I don’t think Vanek will re-sign with the Islanders during the NHL season but with how successful that line has been the past month it is hard to argue that general manager Garth Snow has thrown a wrench in the Wild’s plans. I have to believe Snow’s job is directly tied to the handling of the Vanek situation going forward. It will be interesting to see what comes next on the Island. The unknown with Vanek will only put more pressure on Snow as the trade deadline approaches. To have Vanek leave without compensation in the offseason would be disastrous for the Islanders short of winning the Stanley Cup this season after giving up significant assets to bring him to the team ahead of his unrestricted free agency.
I truly feel right now the best route for this current roster would be addition by subtraction via trade. I really hope the Wild brass is looking to move on from a couple of key veterans that are holding them back. I think if Fletcher can somehow leverage another team into to taking Dany Heatley or Niklas Backstrom it would be a shot across the bow for this team and provide opportunity for young players who are ready to step in. The Wild hovering in and around the 8th seed in the Western Conference should only further motivate Fletcher to be decisive.
Obviously it takes two to tango in the NHL to complete a trade and there are more teams in a fragile state like the Wild than clear buyers and sellers. The news that the salary cap will rise back to pre-lockout levels should help to make trades this deadline season more feasible. I arguably see a big bodied skilled defender to pair up with the Wild’s more finesse type defensemen as a more pressing need than a forward now. The elephant in the room is the currently unstable goaltending situation due to injuries and unknown. If Harding is unable to find a solution to the illness he has been battling that is associated to the treatment of his Multiple Sclerosis, then Fletcher may have to address adding a goaltender first. Seeing Devan Dubnyk and Ben Scrivens moved already has limited potential long term options.
Wild fans should have their heads on a swivel because the tensions should be high on Kellogg Boulevard given that the team is alive in the playoff picture but played better with their young lineup after a brutal December collapse. Wild Owner Craig Leipold has been very aggressive in his pursuit to elevate this organization and reinforce the brand. I have to believe he will be pushing for a return to the playoffs or else this season for not just head coach Mike Yeo but possibly the front office as well.
Who Could be on the Move for the Wild
Fletcher and his front office staff have excelled at stockpiling young talent for the franchise and beyond the players that have graduated to the NHL level in the last two seasons there are prospects in the wings. The depth of their young players leads me to key on a player like Jason Zucker as becoming a centerpiece of package to address a need that the Wild has no internal fix. Another player that could find himself included in a package is Justin Fontaine. Fontaine has been highly productive and versatile in his rookie season with the Wild, I just wonder if he finds himself blocked on the depth chart of young players going forward.
Just My Take,
Tony Dean
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