OK, I’m back in the Twin Cities. Almost one month until training camp starts.

I talked to assistant GM Tom Lynn yesterday and here’s a story on management’s meeting with Marian Gaborik in Slovakia.

Unfortunately, Gaborik’s voice isn’t in the story, although, trust me, I’ve tried to get him and his agent for weeks. So keep in mind, this is one side.

But Lynn said at no point in the meeting did Gaborik tell the Wild he wanted to move on.

If he did, I think the Wild would let that be known simply to prepare its fan base that a trade is coming. At the end of the day, who knows if the Wild will be able to get Gaborik signed, but as of now, the Wild at least believes it’ll be able to sign him.

You can bet that one giant part of this meeting had to do with questions from Gaborik about the team’s inability to land a big free agent this summer and its inability to make a meaningful trade deadline acquisition the last two seasons.

The Wild gave Gaborik specifics on everything it tried to do, especially this summer and at the deadline. Gaborik knows the Wild went after Marian Hossa because he was involved in the recruitment. The Wild wanted guys like Kristian Huselius and Brendan Morrison, but they chose to go elsewhere. After that it was an under-supplied market.

Risebrough told Gaborik that the Wild went hard after a center at the deadline, especially Olli Jokinen, and I’ve since found out, Mats Sundin. The Wild thought it was going to land Peter Forsberg, and when he chose Colorado, it thought it had Jokinen. But at the last second, Florida decided not to trade him, and like at the Draft in June, the Wild wasn’t going to give up Mikko Koivu or James Sheppard to get him.

By the deadline, the only center traded of the glut of centers reportedly available that day was Sergei Fedorov, a player Doug Risebrough had no interest in. So in other words, teams decided to hold on to the centers (Bobby Holik, Jokinen, Robert Lang, etc.), which left the Wild with … Chris Simon only.

The Wild apparently gave Gaborik an inside-look at its future plans, and the fact owner Craig Leipold is more than willing to bring in players in future years of Gaborik’s potential contract. And a big part of the meeting was an attempt to sell Gaborik that he has a chance to grow with Koivu, Sheppard, Brent Burns, P-M Bouchard, Nick Schultz, Colton Gillies, etc.

Like I said, whether this was enough to get Gaborik to sign on the dotted line is another question we’ll soon find out. 

As I’ve written a number of times, it’s definitely a risk to let Gaborik play in the final year of his deal. It would be a constant distraction, and if the Wild then couldn’t ink him again after it restarts negotiations after Jan. 1, if Gaborik is injured close to the deadline, the Wild could wind up getting squat for him.

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