Wow, I just heard this morning that he was probably not going to sign with the Bruins. Nice. He used to be an exciting player to watch but I hadn't seen much of him the last few years.
Easily our biggest FA signing to date. I wanna say I saw this coming with the Lemaire ties, but....3 yr 9 mil is alot of dough, but man it's nice to see ownership step up to the plate.
awesome signing by Minny.
Aslong as he played at the LW and is given solid ice team he will produce.
Hes an awesome PK'r and can work the point on the PP, Rolston was easily a top 3 favorite while hes in Boston and im pissed that hes gone, i kno Minny is a defense first team but ill predict atleast 20g and 25-30 ast and be top 5 in the league in SH goals.
This is easily Risebrough's best FA signing since Brunette. Way to go, Riser! I can't wait to see Rolston on a line with Gaborik. Now I'll really be pi$$ed if there's a lockout.
very cool news.....I'm thinking of moving to Minny this fall (if all the dominoes fall into place), and Brian Rolston will be one more reason to think about getting Wild season tix!
I think he's going to blossom under Jacques Lemaire's system........
now, let's all hope the CBA gets done in time for October!
p.s. counting the days 'til the World Cup...............
very cool news.....I'm thinking of moving to Minny this fall (if all the dominoes fall into place), and Brian Rolston will be one more reason to think about getting Wild season tix!
I think he's going to blossom under Jacques Lemaire's system........
now, let's all hope the CBA gets done in time for October!
p.s. counting the days 'til the World Cup...............
Lauri from Tacoma (but not for long)
well, it may be Ralstons kids by the time you would actually et the tickets...long waiting list my friend!
I still cant belive Doug spent the money and got a quality player, but im certainly excited to get Brian. Should we play him with Gabby??? the speed on that line would be awsome. With Rolston now, Do you think we have a legit shot at the playoffs? I would definetley say yes. Great Signing Doug
Now Doug start signing those RFA's
Crap! NO PLAYOFFS DAMN IT! I want a top 15 pick again this year :mad: We're not old enough or stocked enough in the prospect depth wise to make another run at the playoffs! I do not want to be another Florida!
Crap! NO PLAYOFFS DAMN IT! I want a top 15 pick again this year :mad: We're not old enough or stocked enough in the prospect depth wise to make another run at the playoffs! I do not want to be another Florida!
There's absolutely zero point to getting prospects if the team doesn't play to win. Always play to win.
We'll definitely be a bubble team for the playoffs. We still need scoring in a big way. Hopefully some of the youngsters will continue to have some success from the end of the year run. I'm sure things will be more difficult being there will be pressure for them to perform unlike the call-ups for last season. There will expectations placed on them now and we'll see who will fade and who will rise. Both Gaborik and Dupuis, Kuba too, need to step up there games for this next season.
I would have to agree with Ceber on playing to win, however, I also understand TSK's frustration. Just look what has happened when we made the playoffs last time. We were definitely set back in the draft that year (Burns). Not that I don't like Burns, but if we're picking 10-14 that year, we would looking at a better prospect in a very deep draft. I guess you could say the same thing last season when we were in the top 8 until the last 2-3 weeks of the season.
I think the Wild are fine depth wise in there prospects but they're really lacking in the top end. Especially skill forwards. Let's hope that some of these mid round guys develop into second line material instead of 3-4 liners. Because we really need one of them to step up to the plate so to speak. Maybe next draft we'll see the Wild make a trade to move up instead of waiting to see who falls into there lap in the first round. (I really doubt that since it doesn'f fit there management style.)
Exactly, I think the only top end we got is Voloshenko and Foy that haven't seen any taste of NHL action with Irmen, Sprunger looking in and hoping they are. That isn't a lot to bank on.
I would say O'Sullivan and Koivu are top end talent not to have their go in the NHL. Plus guys like Burns, Bouchard, Gaborik, Schultz, will be here or could be here for 10 more years. Dupuis for 5. Throw in Thelen, Koivu, O'Sullivan, Voloshenko as top end guys, Plus who knows how the others will turn out. Wallin, Veilluex, Wanvig should make the team and could play for 5 years. So all we really need is to keep up with the young guys we have and continue to draft well. Plus IMO winning breeds winning, and FA's want to play for winners too.
I think not trying to win causes some very dangerous problems within your team...
One...if we wait like you want to stock up all our prospects, that could take several years. By the time you are satisfied with how the young guys are doing, etc. etc...it's very possible several guys on the current team could be gone or out of their primes. Rolston for sure, Roloson, maybe even Gaborik. And whether you agree with it or not, the last guy there is a HUGE part of this franchise, and to waste his (and others) play for several years while we get our prospects up to date, I think is faulty. The idea here is to play to win at the NHL level while developing our prospects. We have a serious player in Gaborik, and he's only 22, which means he could be on this team for a long time to come...which means along with the other guys here, he needs developing. He's not run of the mill, this is a serious talent that would go to waste while we develop prospects. Those guys will get their time....now it's the current Wild's time.
Two...it diminishes morale severely. It's not healthy for a team to not try to win. There's a good feeling after even a loss, that you tried your hardest, and that is magnified if you win. It would not be good to destroy that by developing prospects. The entire team would be saying, what the heck? What are we doing this for?
Those aren't good questions for any team, let alone a young one with a few guys that could be marquee players if developed right. I'm not talking about O'Sullivan etc when I say prospects...I'm talking about the guys that won't be making the big club for years. O'Sullivan could make it next year, so could Koivu.
Just look what has happened when we made the playoffs last time. We were definitely set back in the draft that year (Burns). Not that I don't like Burns, but if we're picking 10-14 that year, we would looking at a better prospect in a very deep draft. I guess you could say the same thing last season when we were in the top 8 until the last 2-3 weeks of the season.
I don't know if I agree. The draft after the playoff run was considered quite deep. Instead of looking at just position, look who came out of the first three rounds. Burns, Irmen, and O'Sullivan. Irmen may be considered by some to be a poor pick, but after the fact the Wild found out that they wouldn't have gotten him if they didn't trade up, so there were definitely other teams looking at him for the third round. Those three guys make for a pretty quality draft, if you ask me. There's a chance that we'd have taken Burns in the first round no matter what selection we had last year. I would expect Thelen could have easily been a top 8 pick this year, so I don't see the little run at the end of the season affecting our draft all that much this time, either.
Draft position is a terrible way to judge the quality of your prospect pool, if you ask me. There are teams that draft well no matter when they're picking, and they have continued success. I think we need to give this team a little more time before we decide if the 02-03 or 03-04 draft selection were good or bad. And, if they turn out to be bad, who's to say picking 5 or 6 spots sooner would've made any difference at all? Even if there end up being guys available that turn into better NHLers, that's no guarantee we would've selected them.
Draft position is a terrible way to judge the quality of your prospect pool, if you ask me. There are teams that draft well no matter when they're picking, and they have continued success. I think we need to give this team a little more time before we decide if the 02-03 or 03-04 draft selection were good or bad. And, if they turn out to be bad, who's to say picking 5 or 6 spots sooner would've made any difference at all? Even if there end up being guys available that turn into better NHLers, that's no guarantee we would've selected them.
Ceber is right. Drafting is a crapshoot, even in the first round, and hoping for a higher draft pick is pointless. And, overall, the Wild have done pretty well drafting compared to the rest of the NHL in their time in the league. The sky isn't falling. The team is in good shape and with such great fan support the Rolston signing, and maybe even another one to get them closer to playoff glory, is a good move by the organization IMO. The system might not have more than a few guys who might be budding stars, but it is otherwise pretty good, especially for a young team (though, after next year they don't really get that leeway I guess).
(banana reserved for special occasions)
