wild/nhl

Why does it matter whether Liepold says he going to be here for the long haul? Is it some insecurity thing related to the North Stars? Does it really matter considering how well the team had done under his ownership? Or under the prior ownership for that matter? Is the team going to go elsewhere if he sells out? Is the league going to expand again so that there will be a city that wants this franchise? Is the Wild in dire financial straits, worse than others? If someone can shed some light on these questions, please do so?

I would love to have both Parise and Suter but, no one has ever answered the question "why would they come here?" These guys want to win the cup. That isnt going to happen here for at least 5 years. I do believe Fletcher will build a dynasty here, it is just going to take a while. Parise and Suter can go to just about any team in the league, why would they come to a team that is 8 years into rebuilding? The only way we are going to be able to do this is with trades. We will have to force these guys to come here. Then we will get better, then we will attrack a better player. I hope I am wrong and eating my words!

way to set your expectations low. 'we aren't going to be Stanley Cup contenders but we are going to be better'. blah, blah, blah. different dance, same song. i'm sorry but with all this youth you still need GOAL SCORERS. Heatley can not disappear for games on end. granted, i don't think Dany is as good as he once was but he can't take two weeks 'off'. all this youth might be great in 2 to 3 years when it figures out how to win. i'm waiting for the travel excuse to come up again as the reason for all the injuries. i'm not saying it doesn't have something to do with it but c'mon. it's not like your playing in the Federal League and traveling by bus.

That would be a sweet bus ride to Vancouver, they could hand out copies of Jack Kerouac's "on the road". Most players would be finished by the time they got to Vancouver.

Fletcher will build a DYNASTY here? Someone is drinking too much koolaid. That is a beyond bold prediction. Nothing so far would indicated he is capable. His young stars will be 3rd and 4th line replacements, maybe a 2nd liner for the near future. Hopefully 1 or 2 will becomes stars, but even then this team needs so much more. A DYNASTY....best prediction of the day.

Trade #7 pick to Toronto for Phil Kessel.. or to Buffalo for Thomas Vanek, or to NY Rangers for Derek Stepan...

I think Plan B is going to be drafting a top blueline prospect, and then looking at second-tier free agents. I still have hopes to get Suter, probably not Parise. Then it's a matter of getting some guys you can depend on to get 25-30 goals a year. Why? Because, as has been pointed out by others, if you make the Wild scoring threat more than just the top line, you end up opening up chances for that top line. We all know that line can put more pucks in the net if given the chance, but as long as opponents see them as the only credible scoring threat, they can key on them. Stop them, you win the game. I think realistically that Fletcher has one more year to see results, and I mean a playoff appearance. If the Wild miss the playoffs again next year, I don't think there are enough excuses left to keep Fletcher and Yeo from the unemployment line.

I like Heats and the Gooch, but the guy they should have gotten in the Burns trade was Joe Pavelski...

Suter and Parise will both end up with the Detroit Red Wings.

Granted, it seemed pretty easy to pick the Sharks' pockets, but even they wouldn't have given up Pavelski. I think Seto has a lot of good years ahead of him, and he hasn't reached his peak yet, (he's actually a pretty young kid). Heatley has turned out to be Mr. Big Goal, getting a goal just when the Wild really needed one. I can't recall the exact stat, but most of his goals were the first Wild goals in a game, and too often, was about all they could score. He had some big goals in the closing seconds of a game, either tying or winning the game. I can hardly wait until July 1 to see who the Wild can pick up as a FA, or who they can get in a trade.