The Minneapolis Star Tribune notes that UFA-to-be Marian Gaborik's agent said the player has not "closed the door on the Wild."
"You never know what can happen," agent Ron Salcer said Tuesday. "Right now, the only team we can talk to is the Minnesota Wild. I don't like to say anything's a foregone conclusion [that he's leaving] because until July 1, it's not going to be.
"But free agency is very enticing. To find out what's available out there in a free market with 29 other teams would be interesting. But you never burn bridges and you wait to see what happens. So we'll see where it goes."
Gaborik was offered a huge 10-year, $78.5M deal last season last fall, but the offensive-minded winger was wary of committing to the defence-first Wild at the time. Now, Chuck Fletcher and Todd Richards are on the scene and the team is shifting philosophies.
"I don't think we're eliminating anything right now with Minnesota," Salcer said. "Changes have been made, so maybe that's encouraging."
Or maybe not.
The Vancouver Province is reporting that it has learned from multiple sources that Gaborik has bought a house in West Vancouver. It's unlikely, but not impossible, that the Canucks could afford him if they also retain the services of Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin given that Ryan Kesler (RFA next summer) and Roberto Luongo (UFA next summer) will need to be signed in the near future. Kesler will be due a big raise, although Luongo won't necessarily have to get more money in a new deal if he's committed to being on a team that can afford to have enough winning pieces in place. He already makes $6.75M per. It's also worth noting that Alexander Edler is the only blueliner on the Canucks signed beyond next year.
But if the Sedins, who will also be unrestricted free agents July 1st, end up leaving the Canucks then Gaborik could theoretically be inked to play alongside buddy Pavol Demitra. Or maybe the talented winger is interested in signing a one-year deal with the Canucks to have a monster season (since his long '08-9 IR stint is fresh on everyone's minds) and cash in on a big contract next year. Anything's possible.
Interestingly, Demitra was seen shopping for homes in the Vancouver area last summer - weeks before officially becoming an unrestricted free agent and signing with the Canucks. Tampering charges never stuck.
Gaborik will be an enticing guy for poolies this fall no matter where he signs because the guy just oozes offensive talent. The problem, clearly, is that he spends way too much time on the IR and if you reach too early for him at your draft then you could get burned badly.
HAVLAT & KHABI
The Chicago Tribune notes that Martin Havlat's return is Chicago GM Dale Tallon's most pressing matter and time is beginning to run short with the opening of free agency July 1.
"We have time," Tallon said Tuesday. "You don't get any merit points for signing early. We want him to come back. He has stated that he wants to come back. We just have to do what makes sense for the long-term plan for the Blackhawks."
Tallon would apparently like to get something done this week, although money will obviously be the sticking point. Havlat made $6M per on his last contract and he posted a career-best 77 points in a career high 81 GP. He had played a grand total of 109 games over his prior three seasons due to injuries though, so paying him anywhere near $6M is not likely financially feasible or sound in this cap era.
Factor in that Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Andrew Ladd will be RFAs next summer (not to mention Cam Barker, Dave Bolland, Troy Brouwer and Kris Versteeg will be key RFAs July 1st) and the Hawks really have to watch their pennies.
Goaltending is the other crucial situation that needs to be resolved with Cristobal Huet still having three years left at $5.6M per on his contract. Nikolai Khabibulin, who was the goaltender of choice down the stretch and into the playoffs, will a UFA and has shown interest in returning to Chicago. His cap hit last year was $6.75M and he's 36 years old.
"We'll see what it's going to cost," Tallon said. "It all comes down to the cap and how much money we have. It's time maybe for our young guys to step up; [Antti] Niemi and [ Corey] Crawford to battle. We have confidence in our goaltending depth, so we'll see."
No doubt. The back-up slot is not a worry because either Niemi or Crawford is ready to take that position today. The Hawks simply cannot afford to have both Huet and Khabi eating up a big chunk of salary in net again, so that's the crucial piece of the puzzle that'll need to be resolved soon for this team.
Whichever of the two is left standing when the dust settles should have fairly good value in any format of pool since the Hawks are trending toward becoming one of the better teams in the West.
QUOTABLE
Brian Burke was addressing the media yesterday, talking about how his team's goal is to make the playoffs next year and noting that "we're going to have to make some changes to do it. We're going to be a different team."
His best quote came when asked about the fact that he wants his team to be a harder-hitting, fighting, hostile group of players when neither the past two Cup champs - Pittsburgh and Detroit - played that style.
"I don't give a rat's ass what they do in Pittsburgh or Detroit," said Burke. "There's been four different Cup winners the last four years, and I got one of them (Anaheim) and it was a fighting team. We're playing it that way regardless."