Wild Off-Season

So what have the Wild done for us lately?


I've been in Europe the past 3 weeks, but I just found out today that they let Marian Gaborik walk and he signed with the Rangers last week. Are people in Minnesota upset about this? I think most people in the State of Hockey were upset with Gabby's discontent with the Jacques Lemaire and his grind-it-out playing style, but perhaps the Wild should have reconsidered. The new coaching staff wants to play a more up-tempo, aggressive style, one that would favor #10's talents - am I wrong, am I wrong?

But it appears they have replaced him with similarly-styled Martin Havlat. He's been great for the Blackhawks the past few years, hopefully he can be more productive as a first-line forward for the Wild.

So far in free agency, in the West, it looks like the Blackhawks have done the most. They acquired Marian Hossa to replace Havlat, and added a nice defensive pivot in John Madden. It remains to be seen if letting The Bulin Wall go will be in their favor. But I think that another year of seasoning, including a strong playoff run, will help the kids from Chicago challenge the Red Wings. Speaking of Detroit, they have not done much, and for my sake, hopefully the window for them to win championships is closing. Hopefully the Finals result was the mark of the end of an era. The Wings have lost Hossa, in addition to Samuelsson and Hudler, the latter 2 of which are top-line guys, but those type of players have been the difference for the Wings in playoffs goneby. The Sharks could also challenge, they re-signed all their guys, maybe one more piece would be nice.
In the East, I think the Flyers have had the highest-profile summer, with the Pronger trade, but they haven't done much else. I think the Capitals will be challengers next year, and also my favorite Bruins, but obviously the Penguins will be the class of the conference next year. Speaking of Boston, they haven't really done much, and probably won't, but hopefully they can lock up Kessel for the near future.