Today, at noon Eastern, the NHL floodgates officially opened, as the free agent market could finally be dabbled in again. For those watching for Rolston reports, nothing got done with Tampa, but he hasn't signed anywhere else yet. There've been some big shake-ups, including Edmonton making a swap with Carolina, Pitkanen for Eric Cole. The Oilers could be making a big push for next season in the Northwest. So could Calgary, who added Rene Bourque today, picking him up from Chicago.
As for the Wild, while they can still chase Brian Rolston, they seem to be focused in other directions. Rolston is not going to take a smaller contract, and would probably ask for more than 3 years and $7M, which is what Minnesota is giving to Andrew Brunette. Yes, you saw that right. The man who helped us succeed in the playoffs in '03 and then helped knock us out in '08 is going to be back on the Wild next year. He's a player that the Wild has admitted was a mistake to let go, so his return could spell good things for the team.
Also coming to Minnesota is Predator defensemen Marek Zidlicky. The Wild seems determined to add offense to their blue-line, and Zidlicky (and earlier acquisition Marc-Andre Bergeron) will help in that aspect. If Burns can keep turning it up like he did this season, the Wild defense could be a serious threat. The Wild gave up Ryan Jones (a decent prospect who's probably a couple years away from the NHL) and a draft pick to grab Zidlicky.
But it hasn't all been gains for Minnesota. Todd "Fridge" Fedoruk has left for Phoenix (that's a lot of "F" sounds in one sentence). With Simon also being gone, is the Wild maybe looking to get away from playing "tough guy hockey", since it didn't work as well as they were hoping last season?
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