Wild, free agents...MVN Article...

LemaireisGOD · 06-27-2007, 02:04 PM

The State of Hockey News | MVN - Most Valuable Network » Blog Archive » Wild brace themselves for intense free agency period; who will stay, who will go, and what new faces will we see?

Wild brace themselves for intense free agency period; who will stay, who will go, and what new faces will we see?

By Derek Felska | June 26th, 2007

As the excitement of the NHL draft softens, a new drama begins to unfold as the free agency period is set to begin July 1st. For teams like Buffalo, Nashville and New Jersey this is a time their organizations have dreaded; the time where they will likely lose a key component (or more) of their respective team’s success. For teams like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Edmonton it is the long-awaited time to take advantage of star players now becoming available to them, for the right price.

Already, a few NHL teams have made moves in preparation of this portion of the “off-season.” Nashville, amidst tremendous turmoil over its ownership dealt the rights to Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen to the Philadelphia Flyers, and later added more intrigue by dealing away its #1 Goaltender Tomas Vokoun to the Florida Panthers. Meanwhile other teams wish to skip the drama by re-signing their players before July 1st, much in the way Montreal re-signed defenseman Andrei Markov or the way the Wild tied down goaltender Niklas Backstrom with a 2-year deal.

Teams must tender a qualifying offer to restricted free agents these by July 1st otherwise they become unrestricted free agents. Players over the age of 27, or players that have been dealt three times in their short career are unrestricted free agents where they are able to sign with any team. Every season, teams must decide whether to keep their RFA’s or to gamble by signing UFA’s with the hope of filling those holes or perhaps upgrading at that position. Last season the Wild made significant upgrades by being very active in signing free agents; like Kim Johnsson, Mark Parrish, Keith Carney, Branko Radivojevic, and Niklas Backstrom. Today the Minnesota Wild tendered qualifying offers to all of its restricted free agents except right winger Adam Hall. Once a qualifying offer is tendered the team or the player may opt for arbitration if there is a dispute over the conditions in the qualifying offer, but in most cases it means a player will be back next season.

Minnesota Wild Restricted Free Agents:

LW - Derek Boogaard

LW - Pierre-Marc Bouchard

LW - Mark Rooneem

RW - Matt Foy

RW - Joel Ward

RW - Mattias Weinhandl

RW - Aaron Voros

C - Mikko Koivu

D - Kurtis Foster

D - Mike Madill

D - Erik Reitz

D - Ryan Stokes

G - Josh Harding

It is mildly surprising the Wild have made a qualifying offer to defenseman Kurtis Foster who was clearly in Head Coach Jacques Lemaire’s doghouse towards the ends of the season. So much so he was a regular scratch in the latter half of the season and even watched games from the pressbox during the playoffs. Yet, the reason is probably because Foster will still be an inexpensive option for the blueline. As for the team’s list of unrestricted free agents, the rumors are mixed as to whether the team is negotiating or not with them. The team has 4 centres as potential UFA’s, and it is doubtful all of them will be back. There are rumors saying the team is talking with veteran centreman Wes Walz, but most rumors say the Wild are going to let fellow centre Todd White test free agency. Here are the Wild’s list of unrestricted free agents.

Minnesota Wild Unrestricted Free Agents:

C - Jason Morgan

C - Wyatt Smith

C - Wes Walz

C - Todd White

RW - Adam Hall

D - Martin Skoula

D - Peter Ratchuk

Add into this chaotic storm the team is still looking to deal goaltender Manny Fernandez and his $4.33 million salary. While the team has been insisting the past few weeks that they may just keep 3 goaltenders, it seems highly unlikely they would want a 3-headed monster between the pipes. With just about $34 million committed to 13 players, subtracting Fernandez’ salary would give the team freedom to go after a quality centre or defenseman. If they are unable to trade Fernandez, the Wild will have virtually no room to go after quality players since their RFA’s will take up much of the remaining cap room. This might sound like a poor meteorologist talking, but this could very well be a very active time or a very inactive time for the Wild. It’s hard to say at this point, but from last year alone Wild fans know what happens after July 1st can be an awfully interesting and exciting time.

06-27-2007, 02:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
LemaireisGOD Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 504	Wild, free agents...MVN Article... The State of Hockey News \| MVN - Most Valuable Network » Blog Archive » Wild brace themselves for intense free agency period; who will stay, who will go, and what new faces will we see? Wild brace themselves for intense free agency period; who will stay, who will go, and what new faces will we see? By Derek Felska \| June 26th, 2007 As the excitement of the NHL draft softens, a new drama begins to unfold as the free agency period is set to begin July 1st. For teams like Buffalo, Nashville and New Jersey this is a time their organizations have dreaded; the time where they will likely lose a key component (or more) of their respective team’s success. For teams like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Edmonton it is the long-awaited time to take advantage of star players now becoming available to them, for the right price. Already, a few NHL teams have made moves in preparation of this portion of the “off-season.” Nashville, amidst tremendous turmoil over its ownership dealt the rights to Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen to the Philadelphia Flyers, and later added more intrigue by dealing away its #1 Goaltender Tomas Vokoun to the Florida Panthers. Meanwhile other teams wish to skip the drama by re-signing their players before July 1st, much in the way Montreal re-signed defenseman Andrei Markov or the way the Wild tied down goaltender Niklas Backstrom with a 2-year deal. Teams must tender a qualifying offer to restricted free agents these by July 1st otherwise they become unrestricted free agents. Players over the age of 27, or players that have been dealt three times in their short career are unrestricted free agents where they are able to sign with any team. Every season, teams must decide whether to keep their RFA’s or to gamble by signing UFA’s with the hope of filling those holes or perhaps upgrading at that position. Last season the Wild made significant upgrades by being very active in signing free agents; like Kim Johnsson, Mark Parrish, Keith Carney, Branko Radivojevic, and Niklas Backstrom. Today the Minnesota Wild tendered qualifying offers to all of its restricted free agents except right winger Adam Hall. Once a qualifying offer is tendered the team or the player may opt for arbitration if there is a dispute over the conditions in the qualifying offer, but in most cases it means a player will be back next season. Minnesota Wild Restricted Free Agents: LW - Derek Boogaard LW - Pierre-Marc Bouchard LW - Mark Rooneem RW - Matt Foy RW - Joel Ward RW - Mattias Weinhandl RW - Aaron Voros C - Mikko Koivu D - Kurtis Foster D - Mike Madill D - Erik Reitz D - Ryan Stokes G - Josh Harding It is mildly surprising the Wild have made a qualifying offer to defenseman Kurtis Foster who was clearly in Head Coach Jacques Lemaire’s doghouse towards the ends of the season. So much so he was a regular scratch in the latter half of the season and even watched games from the pressbox during the playoffs. Yet, the reason is probably because Foster will still be an inexpensive option for the blueline. As for the team’s list of unrestricted free agents, the rumors are mixed as to whether the team is negotiating or not with them. The team has 4 centres as potential UFA’s, and it is doubtful all of them will be back. There are rumors saying the team is talking with veteran centreman Wes Walz, but most rumors say the Wild are going to let fellow centre Todd White test free agency. Here are the Wild’s list of unrestricted free agents. Minnesota Wild Unrestricted Free Agents: C - Jason Morgan C - Wyatt Smith C - Wes Walz C - Todd White RW - Adam Hall D - Martin Skoula D - Peter Ratchuk Add into this chaotic storm the team is still looking to deal goaltender Manny Fernandez and his $4.33 million salary. While the team has been insisting the past few weeks that they may just keep 3 goaltenders, it seems highly unlikely they would want a 3-headed monster between the pipes. With just about $34 million committed to 13 players, subtracting Fernandez’ salary would give the team freedom to go after a quality centre or defenseman. If they are unable to trade Fernandez, the Wild will have virtually no room to go after quality players since their RFA’s will take up much of the remaining cap room. This might sound like a poor meteorologist talking, but this could very well be a very active time or a very inactive time for the Wild. It’s hard to say at this point, but from last year alone Wild fans know what happens after July 1st can be an awfully interesting and exciting time. __________________ "Why mess around with PT Boats when you can have a Destroyer?" ~ Al Strachan (Hockey Night in Canada)