The NHL free agency opened up today and of course there were tons of deals. Concerning my team, the Wild. We first learned that Marek Zidlicky would be coming to the team by way of Nashville. Randy Jones and our 2009 2nd round pick will be headed out of town. It addresses our need for more offense and he’s a solid defensemen with many years ahead of him. There are 2 years left on his contract at about $3.5M I believe.
Over the past few weeks, I’d been hearing talks with Rolston broke down and as of last week, his rights were traded to TB. It left me feeling empty and sad. He’s a great team member and he sure has a rocket of a shot from the point. Not to mention he was one of the “core” players for the Wild. However, I question how you can want to remain in MN yet also want to test the free agency. From what I was hearing, we offered him a respectable contract, just not the one he was looking for. He ended up signing just a few minutes ago in New Jersey (a team he’s played for in the past).
All that sadness is now gone as Andrew Brunette signed a three-year deal today. It’s funny to hear how both he and Wild front office had regrets about parting ways to begin with. I believe Rolston was brought in as sort of replacement for Brunette in the first place, so that makes today even a little more interesting. He is a good guy to have in the locker room for the youngsters and I think his old teammates like Koivu, Burns, and Schulz will be happy to have him around too. I wonder what Brunette is going to have to give Sheppard to get his #15 back.
Oh and he did score the best Wild goal ever. EVER!
