Foster, Hall gone? Sheppard a roster candidate?
Posted on June 23rd, 2007 – 4:08 PMBy Michael Russo
Day 2 is complete, and the Wild took four more players — Justin Falk, Cody Almond, Harri Ilvonen and Carson MacMillan. Ilvonen’s an interesting story. He was the only one of the four here and he was taken 170th overall.
But the guy came all the way over from Finland because he was supposed to be a third- or fourth-round pick. Here he was in the sixth round and hadn’t heard his name. He was freaking out to say the least.
To the team, I wrote a Wild Insider (i.e. column) for tomorrow’s paper looking ahead.
Couple news items:
GM Doug Risebrough tried to trade restricted free agent to be’s Kurtis Foster and Adam Hall this weekend. He got little interest. Without using their names, Risebrough hinted that he has to decide by Tuesday’s deadline whether he will qualify all his restricred free agents. Now, let’s do the math here. He’s not dumping assets like Mikko Koivu, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Nick Schultz. He’s not getting rid of Derek Boogaard or Josh Harding.
So when I told him that left Foster and Hall, he confirmed it with your typical GM-like uncomfirmed confirmation: “That’d be astute.”
Still, it surprises me because GM’s rarely like to dump assets, and Foster in particular is still a 6-5 defenseman with a booming shot. But since the Wild couldn’t trade Manny Fernandez this weekend, this would be a way to clear up nearly $2 million (Hall’s got to be qualified at over $1 million and Foster’s close to $900,000).
Also, Risebrough and coach Jacques Lemaire pointed out that one way to get a new center this summer would be internally, and they weren’t talking Benoit Pouliot.
The Wild is seriously considering signing 19-year-old James Sheppard, a power center who had a great year in the QMJHL. If he has a solid training camp, and summer camp in July, this is a possibility.
Matt Foy and Danny Irmen will also get long looks in camp.
Todd White and Martin Skoula look like they’re definitely going to become free agents. The Wild may call Wes Walz this week.
The Wild will be looking at gritty, competitive forwards and defensemen this summer. I threw a bunch of names that possibly fit that category in tomorrow’s paper.
Lastly, my other Boston source confirmed to me his team just got scared off by Manny Fernandez’s off-ice reputation. While one Bruins source said they’re done looking at Fernandez, another said there’s always a chance because they need a goalie.
Uncle Jacques Lemaire took a couple potshots at Manny today. Asked if he’s worried an unhappy Fernandez could poison the Wild room, Lemaire said, “What can he do differently than he was doing? Huh? … You always have guys on teams that are different and it’s not a big deal.
“As an example, if a guy always talks, and he talks and he talks, at first you listen to him and after you don’t even hear the guy. Manny’s no different.”
And finally, here’s the team depth chart as it looks now:
Wild Depth Chart
Here’s a look at the Wild’s depth chart heading into free agency if the team doesn’t re-sign unrestricted free agents Wes Walz, Martin Skoula and Todd White. In parentheses are the players 2007-08 salary and their hit against the salary cap, which is the average per year salary of their entire contract:
Left wings
Pavol Demitra ($4.5 million, $4.5 million)
Brian Rolston ($2.432 million, $2.432 million)
Mark Parrish ($2.65 million, $2.65 million)
Stephane Veilleux ($595,000, $546,700)
Derek Boogaard (unsigned)
Centers
Mikko Koivu (unsigned)
Dominic Moore ($700,000, $700,000)
Right wings
Marian Gaborik ($6.5 million, $6.33 million)
Pierre-Marc Bouchard (unsigned)
*Adam Hall (unsigned)
Branko Radivojevic ($680,000, $640,000)
Defensemen
Kim Johnsson ($4.8 million, $4.85 million)
Nick Schultz (unsigned)
Brent Burns ($875,000, $825,000)
Keith Carney ($2.1 million, $2.1 million)
Petteri Nummelin ($1.2 million, $1.1 million)
*Kurtis Foster (unsigned)
Goaltenders
Niklas Backstrom ($3.1 million, $3.1 million
Manny Fernandez ($4.5 million, $4.33 million)
Roster contenders
G Josh Harding
C James Sheppard
D Andre Lakos
RW Matt Foy
RW/C Danny Irmen
D Shawn Belle
C/W Benoit Pouliot
* GM Doug Risebrough indicated Saturday he’s contemplating not tending qualifying offers, and thus, losing the rights to Adam Hall and Kurtis Foster.
– Michael Russo


