Word out of Minnesota is that the team has been turned upside down with two major deals... More to come in the next day or two on who, what and why and... what else?
When the BRHL2 season started the Wild had one goal in mind - winning the Stanley Cup. After seeing a team like Tampa win it last year, really, how hard can it be? The Wild came out of the gates blazing, leading the league for much of the first quarter of the season. But after a few trades the team faltered. The dressing room cancer known as Ryan Smyth, along with the loss of the best leader in sports Daniel Sedin seemed to have thrown the tight-knit group into turmoil. Wild management tried to ride it out, tinkering with minor deals and changing the lines a bit; but despite a recent streak of better play, more moves needed to be made! So after distracting GM Jamie Dorgan with a bottle of Crown Royal and a case of Pepsi to mix it with, GM Shawn Pedersen pulled the trigger on two ridiculous deals that turned the team upside down. Out go the #1, 2 & 3 centres from the Wild (who trades ALL their centers?!?!) as well as career Wild dman Alex Zhitnik. Arriving in Minny are a couple of new centers, a new winger and an improvement at D. The new forward lines currently shape up as follows: Smyth - Sullivan - Selanne S.Kozlov - Jokinen - Brunette Axelsson - Legwand - C.Clark Chimera - Legwand - Gelinas Coach Crawford likes these lines, but will change 'em up if needed. With the mix of offensive forwards in play, there are many options to find the chemistry needed. The D is now one of the sickest in the league with Kim Johnsson and Teppo Numminen making up the crappy third pairing, both at 76OV. Boyle, McCabe, Hill and Schneider being the other 4 dmen. As always, Dipietro leads the way in goal and is expected to carry the load most of the way. Grahame has proven to be a sometimes capable backup when Dipietro needs a rest. One of the most important results of the wheeling and dealing is a small amount of cap space that was opened up for the Wild GMs. We plan on making another deal or two before the deadline. We still have several good prospects and a couple of picks that can go in a deal that upgrades us wherever we can. A few players will be targetted, and all potential offers that improve the team for this year (without completely hamstringing the team in the longrun) will be considered.
