Dan Wallace: Zucker Presents A Different Challange For Fenton

Hmmmm, for over $6M a season I hope the Wild trade him off. I like Zucker, I believe he is a character the Wild need on the team right now to add some excitement to the season ticket holders while the team begins a rebuild. But that's the thing, THE WILD NEED TO REBUILD. They can't be spending $5-6-7-8 million dollars a season on every guy that puts up numbers that are half way decent, especially when they are not consistent. I know the Wild said they are not rebuilding, but they need to. And signing a guys like Zucker to anything more then $5M a season is just careless at this point, to many guys over the $5M mark on this team right now as it is.

J. Zucker is a big part of the Wild team but I would pay him no more than say Mike Hoffman, very comparable players. Hoffman make 5.187 annually. If Zucker wants more than that I would trade him. If Zucker had three or four straight 30 plus goal seasons then I would go higher but he has to prove he can stay healthy and do it again. Hoping he signs though as Staal, Zucker and Granlund would be a pretty dynamic line.

What would it cost to acquire Zucker? Would a package similar to what the Devils paid for Palmieri and Mojo be in the ball park? Neither of those guys had hit 30 goals prior to be traded so I would think the Wild would like a little more ?

J. Zucker is a big part of the Wild team but I would pay him no more than say Mike Hoffman, very comparable players. Hoffman make 5.187 annually. If Zucker wants more than that I would trade him. If Zucker had three or four straight 30 plus goal seasons then I would go higher but he has to prove he can stay healthy and do it again. Hoping he signs though as Staal, Zucker and Granlund would be a pretty dynamic line.
- joegreif17

The wild need to be careful here ... The Ducks traded Bobby Ryan after 4 straight 30 + goal seasons when he wanted to get paid and got a nice package back and let Ottawa overpay him ... and that hasn’t turned out well for the Sens.

Those suter/parise contracts really hitting home now.

Those suter/parise contracts really hitting home now.
- Leniwm1

Hey look, someone didn't shut off the broken record yet.

Yes, we all know all about those contracts. But they aren't the real contracts hurting this team. Take Parise as an example, he was the best Wild player coming down the end stretch of the season last year, and best player in the playoffs until he got the Malachi crunch and broke his sternum. Since the recovery from his back surgery, he has slightly re-invented his game and is starting to earn his contract. And Suter, for all his non-contact work, is still one of the better Dmen in the league.

The contracts that are hurting the Wild Koivu, Spurgeon...and now Dumba. Koivu we all know about. Spurgeon is now going to be relegated to 2nd pairing, so $5.2 mil a year is a bit costly...especially for his size. And Dumba's contract looks bad at this moment, but in 3 years (if he continues to grow and improve) should be perfect for 1st pairing. But right now, not so good.

What I would like to know is if Zucker DOES get over $6 mil a year, what forward is going? The Wild are currently sitting at about $6.2 in cap space. Do they just try and dump Foligno to a team trying to get to the cap floor? Or do they trade someone like Granlund, and try to at least get something back in return besides cap space?

Hey look, someone didn't shut off the broken record yet.

Yes, we all know all about those contracts. But they aren't the real contracts hurting this team. Take Parise as an example, he was the best Wild player coming down the end stretch of the season last year, and best player in the playoffs until he got the Malachi crunch and broke his sternum. Since the recovery from his back surgery, he has slightly re-invented his game and is starting to earn his contract. And Suter, for all his non-contact work, is still one of the better Dmen in the league.

The contracts that are hurting the Wild Koivu, Spurgeon...and now Dumba. Koivu we all know about. Spurgeon is now going to be relegated to 2nd pairing, so $5.2 mil a year is a bit costly...especially for his size. And Dumba's contract looks bad at this moment, but in 3 years (if he continues to grow and improve) should be perfect for 1st pairing. But right now, not so good.

What I would like to know is if Zucker DOES get over $6 mil a year, what forward is going? The Wild are currently sitting at about $6.2 in cap space. Do they just try and dump Foligno to a team trying to get to the cap floor? Or do they trade someone like Granlund, and try to at least get something back in return besides cap space?
- Gusrichards

The Wild would get a nice,
very nice return for Granlund ...

Fenton call Buffalo now please.

Fenton call Buffalo now please.
- macman9

I hope it's not a curse of GM's whose last names start with F that like getting fleeced by Buffalo.

Geez, did not realize both Parise/Suter were signed at 7.5 each until the age of 40. Ouch.

I feel Suter still earns his money though.

So much for that home-town discount. Wheel and deal his ass if he wants 6+

Zucker is, in my opinion, the best player outside of Suter on the team right now....and his age gives him the advantage overall. He is fast and ALWAYS around the puck.

Given all of that, he should be a $5.5M guy.

One nice thing about him is that I truly believe that his ceiling has yet to be reached. I hope they get something done with him.

Hey look, someone didn't shut off the broken record yet.

Yes, we all know all about those contracts. But they aren't the real contracts hurting this team. Take Parise as an example, he was the best Wild player coming down the end stretch of the season last year, and best player in the playoffs until he got the Malachi crunch and broke his sternum. Since the recovery from his back surgery, he has slightly re-invented his game and is starting to earn his contract. And Suter, for all his non-contact work, is still one of the better Dmen in the league.

The contracts that are hurting the Wild Koivu, Spurgeon...and now Dumba. Koivu we all know about. Spurgeon is now going to be relegated to 2nd pairing, so $5.2 mil a year is a bit costly...especially for his size. And Dumba's contract looks bad at this moment, but in 3 years (if he continues to grow and improve) should be perfect for 1st pairing. But right now, not so good.

What I would like to know is if Zucker DOES get over $6 mil a year, what forward is going? The Wild are currently sitting at about $6.2 in cap space. Do they just try and dump Foligno to a team trying to get to the cap floor? Or do they trade someone like Granlund, and try to at least get something back in return besides cap space?
- Gusrichards

What do you think of the Niederreiter contract?

What do you think of the Niederreiter contract?
- jcragcrumple

I still really like El Nino. I thought that last year was going to be the big breakout season for him. Well, his season included the word break, but that was for is leg, not his play. But I still think he has more to show and hopefully this year will be the start of that. Nino does play with a bit of an edge to his game once in a while (more often then Coyle ever does) and hopefully that will come out even more.

And I like Granlund a lot as well. I was just giving ideas on what they might have to do. I don't really want Grannie traded, but at $5.7 mil for the next 2 years, he might open up some cap space, plus get something back that would be worthwhile.

I still really like El Nino. I thought that last year was going to be the big breakout season for him. Well, his season included the word break, but that was for is leg, not his play. But I still think he has more to show and hopefully this year will be the start of that. Nino does play with a bit of an edge to his game once in a while (more often then Coyle ever does) and hopefully that will come out even more.

And I like Granlund a lot as well. I was just giving ideas on what they might have to do. I don't really want Grannie traded, but at $5.7 mil for the next 2 years, he might open up some cap space, plus get something back that would be worthwhile.
- Gusrichards

I think he'd be worth quite a bit.

Since the Cap page has been worked to show correct figures now, I did a little more looking into the Wild's situation. Let's just say Zucker gets the same contract as Dumba, $6 mil for 5 years. That leaves the Wild at about $1.2 in cap space for the season. Now, if they could work some kind of trade to remove Olofsson from the roster, that would get them to about $1.9 in cap space for the season. That's not to bad for a team that was considered to be in cap hell coming into this season. And they didn't have to trade away any good players or assets. Plus they were able to sign Dumba and Zucker (hopefully). I think today is the day that Zucker gets signed, since I think briefs have to be exchanged tonight.

Looking at Olofsson, he really hasn't shown much at the NHL level, so the Wild probably are not going to get much for him. I was thinking a maybe a trade with Edmonton and Ryan Stanton. Pretty much a career AHLer who has a couple of seasons in the NHL. Olofsson is still young enough for the Oilers to develop, and its not like the Wild don't have more like him in the minors with Soucy, Martinsson and Bouramman. Stanton could be that emergency call up left shot Dman since he had a couple of season at the NHL level a few years ago. The Wild pretty much (barring a trade) have their defense locked up for the next 2-3 years, so not a lot of room for Olofsson anyways. And that gets the Wild to just a hair under $2 in cap space. That looks to be a lot better then the $650-$700k that they say on last year.

Then looking forward, the next question after the Zucker signing is....do you extend Staal now or do you wait for the season to get 1/2 way through, or do you let the season play out and hope he doesn't cost and arm and a leg after this year. I personally would sign him now for about $4.5 mil/yr for 2 more year. Unless JEE really steps up big this year, the Wild are still without a bonafide #1 C without Staal.

Lots of great points guys. Just a few thoughts imo.
1. The Suter Parise deals arent the ones hampering this team. Suter is still very good and Parise just caught a rough break in the playoffs (Suter freak injury as well).
2. I still believe this team will not turn a corner until Koivu is gone. He needs to put in a shut down role and be a reliable pk guy, no pp time. He can still be used in key situations when needed, but give JEE a chance at 2c and see what happens.
3. The Staal conundrum. Trading him couls get a solid return, BUT, we then lack a 1c and now Koivu is playing larger minutes again and theres no one in the system to fill that 1c role. What they do with him will determine a shot at playoffs.
4. Zucker and the rest of the bunch.... this team is full of nice players, but no one among them younger core wants to stand out and be the star. These guys are all complementary pieces. I think they're all replaceable, with the exception of Granlund. With the right linemates his numbers would explode, but no one on this team wants to shoot. He could fetch a very solid return, but why not trade away a different asset to try and give him someone to work with?

This team is stuck in the mud and needs multiple moves to be made in order to take the next step. I dont think we can knock Fenton yet for lack of trying, i think we owe him the benefit of the doubt for now. He knows matt hendricks , JT brown and eric fehr aren't the missing pieces that will brimg the cup home, but we have no idea what other teams were offering in return for trade proposals. Until he makes a trade that wows us 1 way or the other, I'm not going to pass any judgement. He didn't exactly walk into the easiest situation in the league.

Dan Wallace: Zucker Presents A Different Challange For Fenton
- Dan Wallace

Well thats a wrap. Good price for a quality player. Now just to critique the bad contracts. Pateryn signed a 3 year 6.75M deal when Minnie was already treading so close to the cap. At 28, slow, not offensively talented, why risk losing Dumba/Spurgeon to acquire an overpriced 6D? Looks Stalock is 650K and Stall at 3.5M will be gone this offseason. But on a positive not, Dumba and Zucker were both excellent signings!!!! If you guys decide to free up cap space, feel free to send Spurgeon/Dumba/Brodin my Devs way please.