Veterans from conflicts throughout history often describe being in a combat zone as long periods of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror. While an offseason is not nearly as dire as combat, it really is typified by long periods of boredom. Hockey beat writers have little to discuss, and so they resort to dragging out some stories they simply did not have time for during the season. I know that is more or less how I’ve felt this summer as free agency just sort of lagged its way along. The lack of activity in someways has forced me to find other ways to spend my time. I described it at the beginning of July as feeling of compulsion to race back to my computer to check tsn.ca to see what players signed with new teams. Yet just after two or three days into the opening of free agency on July 1st the amount of player movement basically ground to a halt; and even with high profile players like Ilya Kovalchuk the big deal did not really emerge (at least not right away). What gives? The salary cap, and having so many teams finding themselves without much flexibility has made for perhaps the most unexciting offseason in recent memory.
After the Wild picked up Matt Cullen and Eric Nystrom on the opening day of free agency there was little more than some speculation that the team was interested in Mike Modano. The Wild did not have a lot of cap room to work with, so predictably there was no dramatic changeover in the Wild’s roster. Minnesota made deals to re-sign Nate Prosser, James Sheppard, Josh Harding as well as giving a hefty 7-year contract extension to Mikko Koivu, but hardly anything that you could really quantify as being a surprise. The Wild decided to add another piece to its roster by signing 37-year old veteran center, John Madden to a 1-year deal worth just about $1.25 million when you include incentives. Madden won a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks (the 3rd of his career) this season, after providing 10 goals, 23 points in 79 games. The Barrie, Ontario native won the Selke Award as the league’s best defensive forward in the 2000-01 season. He is certainly in the twilight of his career but he still moves well, and can be a great asset on the 3rd or 4th line in a shutdown sort of role. Madden also is a proven leader in the lockeroom, who is the consumate teammate and his veteran presence will likely serve as a replacement for Owen Nolan who still remains an unsigned free agent. Minnesota has liked having a few ‘graybeards’ in the lineup to provide guidance for the team’s younger players and a guy like Madden will be a valuable presence of experience. Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher certainly agrees, “John will bring a lot to this team at both ends of the rink, and he will also bring a lot of character to the locker room.”
What will this do for the Wild? According to wild.com’s blogger Glen Andreasen it means that it will allow currently injured forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard to play on the wing instead of at center. Whether Bouchard will be ok by the start of the season is a giant “if” and one that I would not bet any money on. This latest move also does not compromise the team’s cap flexibility as it still leaves the Wild with around $3 million under the salary cap ceiling. If Madden can provide solid minutes in a shut-down role and chip in offensively as well as he did last season that could make him a very valuable contributor to the team. For the three centers lowest on the depth chart, Kyle Brodziak, James Sheppard, and the very promising Casey Wellman that will for sure leave one of them on the outside looking in. I personally am hoping the very disappointing James Sheppard (just 6 points last season) is the odd man out, and Fletcher said as much when he told wild.com, “It’s going to be a very competitive training camp this year, Every day will be a battle for spots, and that’s how it should be. We now have very strong depth at center.” As an added bonus, Madden is also very solid on faceoffs, winning 53% of his draws.
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Fletcher explained his decision to add Madden to the Minneapolis Star Tribune‘s Michael Russo, “We like the fit for a few reasons. The things he does really well are always areas you’re looking to get better in – defensive play, killing penalties, faceoffs. He brings a lot of experience to our team. He certainly makes us much deeper at center. Going into training camp and the regular season, there should be a real healthy competition for ice time. There will be a lot of incentive for players to be in good shape and perform well early in the season because there will be a lot more competition this season for ice time and important roles.” He would also go onto explain that Madden’s signing also is a recognition of the fact the team gave up too many goals last season and that makes a lot of sense. If you’re not going to score more goals you’re going to have to find ways to prevent them, and Fletcher hopes that Madden can bring about a 20-25 goal allowed reduction from last season. I hope he’s right about that. If you wish to read more of Russo’s post-Madden signing interview with Chuck Fletcher, you can do that in the link below.
http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/blogs/57299562.html
Minnesota Wild release Traverse City Tournament roster
The Wild have also announced its roster for the Traverse City Tournament which will be from September 11th-15th. The Wild will play in the ‘Wayne Gretzky Conference’ and will have its first game on Sept. 11th versus Carolina, then Columbus the next day, and the New York Rangers’ prospects on the 14th. Finally the championships / consolation games will be played on the 15th. This has always been an interesting proving ground for the Wild’s youngsters, and has traditionally featured a fair amount of tryout players and this year’s roster is no different.
* ~ denotes a tryout player
Goaltenders:
Matthew Hackett
Darcy Kuemper
Defenseman:
Marco Scandella
Tyler Cuma
Bjorn Krupp
Nate Prosser
*Josh Caron
*Colton Jobke
*Jared Spurgeon
Forwards:
Cody Almond
Joel Broda
Brett Bulmer
Kris Foucault
Dylen McKinlay
Carson McMillan
Jarod Palmer
Casey Wellman
Chad Rau
*J.T. Barnett
*Brandon Buck
*Alex Emond
*Jay Fehr
*Tyler Johnson
*Matt MacKay
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