Dupuis Ends Holdout
by Chris Thompson

Saturday October 25, 2003

An absurdly lengthy holdout over $400,000 finally reached its end today when winger Pascal Dupuis signed a three year contract with the Minnesota Wild. Terms of the deal are not available yet, but TSN.ca reports it is done and will keep the winger, who joined Minnesota as an undrafted free agent, in a Wild uniform through the 2005-06 season.

The most recent public offers seemed to center around a two year deal. Minnesota's offer was for 1.35 million over those two years while Dupuis' camp was looking for $1.75 million. Minnesota had thrown out one and three year offers with no counter received at the time from Dupuis' agents. The three year offer was for 2.525 million.

Minnesota has played eight games so far this season, going 2-5-1 without Dupuis and star winger Marian Gaborik. The offense showed some signs of life Friday night, however, as they scored four goals on the road against the Florida Panthers. Prior to that though, the offense was anemic at best. Matt Johnson entered the game tied for the team lead in goals. Enough said. The return of Dupuis should help the offense pick up its productivity, especially on the power play.

Dupuis was Minnesota's second leading scorer in the 2002-03 campaign with 20 goals, 28 assists, and a +/- rating of +17. Included in those 20 goals were six on the power play. Clearly he is a valuable weapon to the Minnesota Wild and his presence will be appreciated by teammates and fans alike.

Dupuis has been working out at Concordia University in Montreak, but will most likely require some time to skate and get in synch with his teammates before actually taking the ice in a game. He will most likely not play tonight against Tampa Bay, but could skate Tuesday at Buffalo if the coaching staff decides he's in game shape.

The interesting decision now will be to see who gets cut to make room for Dupuis. Defenseman Alex Henry seems the most likely candidate. He has only skated in one game and was far from impressive in that game, logging only six minutes of ice time.

As for Gaborik, at least this deal gives Gaborik's agent team more time to focus on getting his deal done. Additionally, it creates an air of good will and productivity between the two sides. Hopefully it means a deal is near for him as well.