Gaborik Contract Must Do for Wild
A source who is close to the Minnesota
Wild told Sports Headliners he will be surprised if the team
doesn’t sign Marian Gaborik before Christmas and that there’s a
“25 percent” chance that Jacques Lemaire will not return as
coach.
The source described Gaborik as one of the
NHL’s “10 best forwards” and said it should be the organization’s top
priority to sign him to a new contract before he becomes an unrestricted
free agent next year. Referring to Gaborik as "the face of the
franchise,” the source said re-signing him can either help continue the
Wild’s “honeymoon” with the fans or at least assist in preserving the
team’s popularity.
He thinks Gaborik has mixed feelings about
staying here. First, there’s a comfort level having been with the
organization for eight years. Second, playing before capacity crowds
and perhaps the most knowledgeable fans in the NHL offers a lot of
adoration. But Lemaire’s emphasis on defense and the prospect of
playing in the more wide open Eastern Conference (he might score 60
goals) may tempt Gaborik to move east. The 26-year-old forward knows
his next contract will bring huge compensation and security, perhaps the
most he will ever have.
While Gaborik and his advisors test his
worth in the NHL marketplace in the coming months, the source suggested
that the Wild can use his poor 2008 playoff performance of producing just one
assist as a negotiating point. Although Gaborik had regular season
career highs in goals, assists and points, he didn’t even come close to
producing the sort of playoff that would have further boosted his
attractiveness to other teams and potential future compensation.
It’s the source’s assumption the more time
that passes, the less likely it will be Gaborik re-signs here.
Eventually lose him and it will spark similarities to when the Twins
made a last minute trade of Johan Santana. Not good for
honeymoon stability.
As for Lemaire, 62, he’s the only head
coach in franchise history and on record as saying he’s not sure about a
return. The source said Lemaires was clearly frustrated at times last
season with his team’s play. “He has rapport with the younger guys in
showing them his defensive system,” he said. “He has a harder time
selling that defensive style to the older guys.”
What happened to the Wild in the playoff
series they lost to Colorado? “There were two factors,” the source
said. “First, Jose Theodore, the Colorado goalie, was markedly
better than the Wild’s Niklas Backstrom.
“Second, the playing time of (defensemen)
Kim Johnsson, Martin Skoula, and Brent Burns
increased by about five minutes more per game from the regular season to
the playoffs. By the time they got to game six in the playoffs, playing
in the high altitude of Denver, they were tired out.”
