Offseason: Wild Ready to Roll
by Chris Thompson
5/24/02

Minnesota Wild fans have been quiet for over a month now. The sound of steel blades gliding over the ice at the Xcel Energy Center has faded away. The cries of "Let's Play Hockey" are mere echoes now. It is the offseason, a time of recovery for most Wild fans.

Many fans have followed the playoffs, rooting on their favorite team. A member of the Wild's Northwest Division still remains in the hunt for Lord Stanley's Cup, that of course being the Colorado Avs. Those fans who have stayed focused on hockey have seen great playoff games and most are shocked to see the Carolina Hurricanes still rolling and possibly headed for the Finals.

Other fans have taken some time off to focus on house work or yard work or reacquainting themselves with their family. Hockey season can be rough...a little recovery time is good.

Regardless of what fans have been doing, the time has come to start looking ahead again, as the Wild are gearing up for their offseason moves now.

There are several stages to the offseason. WildOnIce.net will break down each stage for you, and forcast what we think Wild fans may see during those stages.

May 31
By May 31st, teams must make contract offers to all their draft picks. A "bona fide offer" by this date will afford the Wild another full year to actually agree to terms with their players. Draft picks from last year up against this deadline include:

Derek Boogaard-Physical LW was selected by the Wild in the 7th round of last year's Entry Draft. He's still young (he turns 20 in June) and needs some seasoning, but he's a decent physical force who took on Matt Johnson and held his own during the rookie camp last season. Expect the Wild to make an offer.

Chris Heid-Defenseman selected in the third round last season. Minnesota traded up with the Rangers to select Heid, so one would certainly expect they'll make him an offer. A quick profile curteousy of Hockeysfuture.com:
"Minnesota's move up in the draft to select Heid was a bit curious in that players of his ilk don't normally capture the imagination of scouts. The Wild clearly like him a lot, though, and with pretty good reason. He's still a few years away and will need some seasoning in the minors, but he stands a very good chance of developing into a good #4 or #5 stay-at-home defender in the Scott Lachance mold. A nice combination of size, intelligence, and mobility."

Jake Riddle-LW from Minneapolis who the Wild selected in the 8th round last year. Riddle's production with Seattle of the WHL actually dropped from 33 pts in 67 games during 2000-01 to 31 pts in 71 games in 2001-02. He's a young, somewhat physical guy, but I would not be surprised if the Wild chose not to offer him a contract based on his lack of improvement last season.

In addition to making contract offers to the above listed players, Minnesota needs to agree to terms with Eric Johannson, whom they selected in the 8th round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. If they can't agree to terms with him by May 31, he will go back in the draft much like Kyle Wanvig did last season before being selected by the Wild.

Johannson raised his play to another level this past season, playing for Tri-City in the WHL. He's a center who will never be the most talented guy on the ice, but has a great "hockey sense" and knows how to find his spots. It would be surprising if the Wild didn't get a deal done with him by the deadline.

June 22-23: NHL Entry Draft

The all-important Entry Draft is June 22-23 in Toronto. Minnesota holds the 8th selection in this year's draft, their lowest pick in franchise history. This is not considered a terribly strong draft class, so fans should not expect another Marian Gaborik caliber player with this season's #1 pick. WildOnice.net will post some player profiles for the draft's top prospects as we get closer to draft day.

July 1: Free Agency

While the draft is the key to building a deep, successful organization, free agency gives teams like the Wild the opportunity to make immediate upgrades to their rosters.

Minnesota has traditionally not been a big player in the free agent market. Last season they brought in just a handful of new faces via free agency. However, they all played key roles in the Wild's success last season. Andrew Brunette helped the Wild's offense find a higher gear last season. Sergei Zholtok mastered the point on the power play and helped Minnesota climb out of the cellar on PP conversions. And Dwayne Roloson went from struggling goalie in the Blues farm system to solid netminder for the Wild last season, saving what could have been a disasterous season when Manny Fernandez went into a funk.

What should we expect this season? There are a lot of high profile names available, such as Teemu Selanne, Bill Guerin and Tony Amonte. However, every team in the league will be pursuing those players making it very unlikely any of them will wear the Wild sweater next season. More likely are some second tier players. Names like Brett Hedican, Scott Young Could find their way onto the Wild roster. There's also a slight chance a Bobby Holik or a Robert Lang could join the Wild. But Wild fans shouldn't expect much more than that this season. Even so, the players they do sign should again help the club take a step forward as they move closer and closer to being a playoff caliber team in the future.

Before we know it, August will be here and we'll be watching the arbitration cases...then comes September and NHL Training Camp. Season III should be exciting...stay tuned to WildOnIce.net for all the latest.

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