Minnesota Wild: RFA Darcy Kuemper Looking at KHL Options

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So, Minnesota Wild RFA goalie Darcy Kuemper is throwing a hissy fit. If I don't get my way, I am going to go to the KHL. Really, there's no options for Kuemper, he can sign with the Wild. I don't see another NHL team giving him an offer sheet. Time to sign a contract.

TSN.CA -- Stuck in a crowded goaltending situation, Minnesota Wild restricted free-agent goaltender Darcy Kuemper could move overseas for his next contract if he isn't able to secure what he is looking for in the NHL.

TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie is reporting that the Wild would like to re-sign the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native to a two-way contract, but coming off a strong playoff performance, Kuemper would prefer a one-way deal.

The Wild already have both Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding locked up heading into the season.

The 24-year-old Kuemper is looking at his options in the KHL, but would want a deal with an out clause in case he is able to find an NHL deal to his liking.

I said this last week on the Hockey Wilderness.

Make no mistake about it, Kuemper is a good young NHL goalie, and he has tremendous upside. However, I don't think he has much room to command a big salary increase. I also think he has to surpass last season numbers to get a big bump in his pay check.

Kuemper has played in 32 NHL games and has a (13-10-4, 2.37 GAA and a .915 SV%). Those are decent numbers, but they don't command a big salary increase, rather a modest bump.

Minnesota Wild: Prospects Tournament Roster

Here's the roster for the Traverse City Prospects Tourney. You can see that the Wild have a few ex-college hockey players on the roster.

Forwards

82 Olivier Archambault 6-0 190 Left 2/16/93 Le Gardeur, Quebec Quebec QMJHL 38 19 27 46 37 INVITEE

80 Jessey Astles 6-2 205 Left 6/4/93 Coquitlam, British Columbia Tri-City WHL 50 11 9 20 67 INVITEE

62 Brady Brassart 6-2 196 Right 6/15/93 Vernon, British Columbia Calgary WHL 70 35 50 85 94 FA/14

49 Raphael Bussieres 6-1 198 Left 11/5/93 Longueuil, Quebec Iowa AHL 61 5 14 19 51 EN/12

75 Reid Duke 6-0 189 Right 1/28/96 Calgary, Alberta Lethbridge WHL 62 15 25 40 91 EN/14

53 Tyler Graovac 6-4 205 Left 4/27/93 Brampton, Ontario Iowa AHL 64 13 12 25 29 EN/11

63 Kurtis Gabriel 6-4 214 Right 4/20/93 New Market, Ontario Owen Sound OHL 60 16 35 51 99 EN/13

47 Reid Gardiner 5-11 185 Right 1/19/96 Humboldt, Saskatchewan Prince Albert WHL 70 22 22 44 39 INVITEE

57 Ryan Graham 6-2 205 Left 5/6/96 Calgary, Alberta Saskatoon WHL 70 15 8 23 37 INVITEE

81 Pavel Jenys 6-2 198 Left 4/2/96 Brno, Czech Republic Brno Czech 29 2 0 2 4 EN/14

76 Chase Lang 6-1 182 Right 9/13/96 Nanaimo, British Columbia Calgary WHL 68 10 15 25 52 EN/14

59 Zack Mitchell 6-0 184 Right 1/7/93 Caledon, Ontario Guelph OHL 67 31 52 83 40 FA/14

67 Andrew Ryan 6-3 202 Left 1/15/94 St. John’s Newfoundland Halifax QMJHL 56 27 28 55 52 INVITEE

71 Ryan Walters 6-0 190 Left 7/30/91 Rosemount, Minnesota Nebraska-Omaha NCHC 34 6 24 30 16 INVITEE

 

Defense

55 Matt Dumba 6-0 183 Right 7/25/94 Regina, Saskatchewan Minnesota NHL 13 1 1 2 2 EN/12

Portland WHL 26 8 16 24 37

73 Tanner Faith 6-3 211 Right 10/5/95 Terrace, British Columbia Kootenay WHL 10 0 1 1 9 EN/14

5 Christian Folin 6-3 210 Right 2/9/91 Gothenburg, Sweden UMass-Lowell HE 41 6 14 20 31 FA/14

34 Guillaume Gelinas 5-10 185 Left 6/14/93 Quebec City, Quebec Val d’Or QMJHL 67 23 69 92 81 FA/14

68 Alex Gudbranson 6-2 204 Right 9/3/94 Orleans, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie OHL 66 7 8 15 76 INVITEE

78 Dylan Labbe 6-2 194 Left 1/19/95 St. George, Quebec Shawinigan QMJHL 63 9 18 27 20 EN/13

23 Gustav Olofsson 6-4 191 Left 12/1/94 Boras, Sweden Colorado College NCHC 30 4 4 8 20 EN/13

79 Hunter Warner 6-2 202 Right 9/21/95 Eden Prairie, Minnesota Waterloo/Fargo USHL 50 2 10 12 127 INVITEE

 

Goalies

50 Alexandre Belanger 6-1 184 Left 8/19/95 Sherbrooke, Quebec Rouyn-Noranda QMJHL 52 28-18-3 1 3.23 .881 EN/13

31 Johan Gustafsson 6-2 202 Left 2/28/92 Koping, Sweden Iowa AHL 40 12-20-4 1 2.98 .903 EN/10

70 Brandon Whitney 6-5 208 Right 5/11/94 Kentville, Nova Scotia Victoriaville QMJHL 41 13-18-7 4 3.25 .906 INVITEE

Mike Yeo: Wild starting job in goal wide open

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As we make our way towards the NHL season there's more hockey news starting to emerge. The Wild are going to have a stable of goalies this season. According to Minnesota Wild head coach Mike Yeo, the position is wide open.

NHL Insider -- The Minnesota Wild will enter training camp next month with three goaltenders, Josh Harding, Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper, competing for the starting job. Wild coach Mike Yeo said each will have a chance to win the No. 1 job.

"I have to say we're kind of open right now, to be honest with you," Yeo told Michael Russo of the Star Tribune on Wednesday during an appearance at the Minnesota State Fair. "We're going to have some scrimmages … but we're going to have to pretty quickly determine who we want to give a greater workload to after that. That's going to be a good challenge."

Obviously, they Wild are going to  need to sign Darcy Kuemper who remains an unsigned restricted free agent. There's also many questions about Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding's health. Neither has been able to play a full season the last two years.

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• Trib: Leave the hockey coverage to Russo

Darcy Kuemper's new goalie mask

Here's the new goalie mask that Minnesota Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper will wear for the 2014-15 season.  Now, let's hope the Wild can get the young goalie locked into a new contract.

Former Wild Forward Devin Setoguchi signed by the Calgary Flames

Former Minnesota Wild forward Devin Setoguchi has been signed by the Calgary Flames. It would appear that the Flames got a bargain signing Setoguchi for $750,000. One could make the argument, that his is a smart contract, especially if he recovers from the miserable season that he had last season and scores 20 goals. That would be a big win for the Flames.

CGY signs Devin Setoguchi. One year. $750K AAV.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) August 23, 2014

Minnesota Wild: Questons at the goaltending position

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The Minnesota Wild's goaltending situation has been a subject of discussion.

John Kreiser - NHL.com -- Who's the goalie? -- Niklas Backstrom, Josh Harding, Darcy Kuemper, Ilya Bryzgalov and John Curry (who won his lone late-season start) all had at least one victory in a season of tumult for Minnesota goaltenders . Harding was 18-7-3 with an NHL-best 1.65 goals-against average, but he didn't play after Dec. 31 because of the effects of his battle with multiple sclerosis. Backstrom struggled all season and played a total of 22:25 after Jan. 11 before season-ending abdominal surgery. Minor-league call-up Kuemper (12-8-4, 2.43 GAA) and Bryzgalov (7-1-3, 2.12 GAA), acquired in a trade on March 4, got the Wild to the playoffs.

The question now is who fits where this season. Fletcher and coach Mike Yeo said they are content to go into training camp without a designated starter and see what happens in a competition between Backstrom, Harding and Kuemper (Bryzgalov remains a free agent).

"We have three guys who are quality goaltenders, three guys who at points in the season have been our starting goaltender and played very good hockey," Yeo told NHL.com. "We're expecting some good competition in camp."

From ESPN's Katie Strang's Chat on ESPN...

Michael (Minnesota)

If you were Chuck Fletcher, what would you do with your goalie situation? Are you tempted to sign Brodeur?

Katie Strang (1:05 PM)

If I were Chuck Fletcher I'd be extremely concerned about my goaltending situation. I know he said publicly that there will be training camp competition with Harding, Backstrom and Kuemper but I wouldn't feel too confident with that. That's why, since the trade deadline, many assumed Brodeur would be a great fit there. His sons also play at famed hockey prep school Shattuck St. Mary's in Fairbault, MN. Makes a lot of sense. But I think Brodeur is holding out for potentially an injury situation that opens a spot up.

I think if there’s one question going into the 2014-15 season, it’s the Minnesota Wild’s goaltending situation. Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding’s health issues are well documented. Darcy Kuemper has yet to sign a contract. I am not so sure that the Wild want to add Martin Brodeur to the mix.

Minnesota Wild All Time Greatest Player

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Well we all heard Eric's opinion on who the greatest player in franchise history for the Minnesota Wild is, Marian Gaborik, and that will probably be a lot of other peoples choices because of how dynamic of a goal scorer he is.

However, one has to argue for Mikko Koivu. The captain has been with the team for 601 games played, plus three playoff runs.  The captain is much deserving of this honor along with his 452 points and a +26 rating in his career, I'd say this honor goes to Mikko Koivu.

Minnesota Wild: Who's the Greatest Player in Franchise History?

That is a good question. In my opinion, it would have to probably be former Wild Marián Gáborík. Thoughts? Gabby played for the Wild for eight seasons. The Wild have been a franchise from 2000-present.

Parise Scores.....

Even more reason to be positive about the upcoming 2014-15 season. Parise scored 33 goals during the 2013-14 season and playoffs.

Wild still trying to re-sign Kuemper

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The Minnesota Wild are having a tough time getting their top goalie prospect signed. Eventually, he's going to have to sing, because he's a restricted free agent. I don't think the Wild want this to drag out  much longer.

Michael Russo, Star Tribune --- A path toward a possible arbitration date would have at least guaranteed a settlement on a one- or two-year contract and would have assured that Kuemper would be signed by the commencement of camp Sept. 18. Now, a holdout — or at least the threat of one — is a possibility.

“Darcy has great potential and played very well in stretches for us [last] season, but at the end of the day I think he’s played around 30 games in the NHL,” Fletcher said. “Usually this isn’t the time to fight for the big contract. We feel Darcy right now is trying to establish himself in the league, and once he does that it’ll be a little simpler to come up with terms.

“Our focus right now is on getting good deals with both [Kuemper and Niederreiter]. If we can get the right deal for the player and for the team, then it’ll give us a chance to be competitive. If we spend too much money on players before they’re ready to get the money they feel they deserve, it impacts a lot of other things down the road. If we can get a deal done tomorrow, great. If it takes even into training camp, it’s really not a big deal. We’ve got great depth, we got lots of players. We’re going to have to do what’s right financially to keep this thing going forward.”

Kuemper, 24, went 12-8-4 last season with a 2.43 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. He came to the Wild’s rescue when goalies Niklas Backstrom (abdominal injury) and Josh Harding (multiple sclerosis) were sidelined. Kuemper’s camp, which battled the Wild three years ago before Kuemper signed his entry-level contract, appears to feel it has leverage because the Wild again plans to rely on Backstrom and Harding to be healthy next season.

(Video) Thomas Vanek All Goals From The 2013-14 Season & Playoffs

In what has been one of the slowest offseason that I can remember, time to start moving forward. Here's a video for Wild fans to peruse. I think the Minnesota Wild will be a lot better with Thomas Vanek in their top-six.

Minnesota Wild's NBC TV Schedule.

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The Minnesota Wild are going to have 11 games broadcast on NBC Sports Network this season. 

Full Wild National Broadcast Schedule (all times CT):
Oct. 9 — vs. Colorado, 8pm
Oct. 28 — at Boston, 6pm
Dec. 17 — vs. Boston, 7pm
Jan. 6 — vs. Sharks, 7pm
Jan. 11 — at Chicago, 7pm
Jan. 13 — at Pittsburgh, 6pm
Feb. 3 — vs. Chicago, 7pm
Feb. 22 — vs. Dallas, 7pm
Feb. 26 — at Nashville, 7:30pm
Apr. 7 — at Chicago, 7:30pm
Apr. 11 — at St. Louis, 2pm/6:30pm*

Wild sign Jordan Schroeder to a two year contract

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The Minnesota Wild have signed first round bust and former Golden Gopher Jordan Schroeder to a two-way contract. Based on who the Wild have in their current lineup, I don't see Schroeder playing in Minnesota all of that much.

ICE Client and Minnesota native Jordan Schroeder agrees to terms on a two-year contract with the Minnesota Wild.
— NEIL SHEEHY (@ICEHockeyAgent) July 12, 2014

More Heatley, 'I can still play this game'

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Former Minnesota forward Dany Heatley thinks that he still has something left in the tank. I think you're going to find the former Wisconsin Badgers comments interesting. I do like how Heatley has taken this in stride.  

Lisa Dillman, L.A. Times -- "I feel good," Heatley said. "I feel leaner. I know the knock on me is that I'm not quick enough anymore. I disagree with that. I can still play this game. I'm still quick enough, fast enough, and I can score goals.

"As far as Minnesota, I think they had a lot of great young players. As an older player, sometimes you get pushed to the side a little bit to let the younger guys develop. But at the same time, I feel like I was a good guy to the young kids. I mentored them a little bit. I enjoyed my time there. I just want another chance to show I can play and I think I still can play."

St. Louis Blues re-sign Agitator Steve Ott

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Minnesota Wild fans, you can breath a sigh of relief, Steve Ott was re-signed by the St. Louis Blues. According to Michael Russo,  the Minnesota Wild were interesting in signing the agitator to a free agent deal. This is one player I am glad that the Wild didn't sign.

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today the club has re-signed forward Steve Ott to a two-year contract.

Ott, 31, joined the Blues via trade from Buffalo last season on Feb. 28 and went on to post three assists and 37 penalty minutes in 23 regular season games, as well as two assists and 14 penalty minutes in six postseason appearances.

Prior to his acquisition, Ott produced 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) and 55 penalty minutes in 59 regular season games as Buffalo’s captain in 2013-14.

The 6-foot, 189-pound forward is a veteran of 11 NHL seasons, including stints with Dallas, Buffalo and St. Louis.

SI refers to the Minnesota Wild as a 'middle-of-the-road team'

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So, Sports Illustrated referred to the Wild are a middle-of-the-road team. Yeah..I guess, whatever. I would refer to the Wild as an up-and-coming team that's ready to break out.

12 Minnesota Wild

Mikko Koivu-Mikael Granlund-Erik Haula-Kyle Brodziak

Koivu isn't the player he once was and Granlund isn't yet the player he will be, but both can be effective in top-six roles for a middle-of-the-road team. Brodziak struggled last season, losing his third line spot to Haula. The rookie showed real promise in the playoffs, chipping in offensively as well as bringing the speed and energy you'd expect out of the role.

I am going to make a prediction, don't be surprised if the Minnesota Wild go deep in the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Dany Healtey signed by the Ducks

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The Ducks have signed former Wisconsin Badgers and Minnesota Wild forward Dany Heatley to a one year contract. According to Darren Dreger , it's for 1 million dollars. The former Wild forward is coming off a tough season, where he spent time in the press box and on the fourth line.  

NHL.COM -- The Ducks have signed left wing Dany Heatley to a one-year contract through the 2014-15 NHL season. Per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Heatley, 33 (1/21/81), has recorded 372-419=791 points with a +41 rating in 863 career NHL games with Atlanta, Ottawa, San Jose and Minnesota. A two-time 50-goal scorer, Heatley has been named to the NHL All-Star Game four times, named a First Team All-Star in 2007, a Second Team All-Star in 2006 and winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2002.

"Over the years, he’s been a guy I’ve always liked," said Executive Vice President and General Manager Bob Murray. "He’s intriguing because he’s a pure goal scorer, and he’s actually much better away from the puck than people think he is. He struggled the last couple years for different reasons. A great opportunity presented itself. It was a good match."

Minnesota Wild Development Camp Roster (College Hockey Connections)

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The Minnesota Wild are holding their development camp on July 9-14. There will be a scrimmage on the 14th of July.

2014 MINNESOTA WILD DEVELOPMENT CAMP ROSTER

FORWARDS (College Hockey Connections)

40 Tyler Sheehy 5-10 185 Right 11/20/95 Burnsville, Minnesota Minnesota Big 10  

41 Alex Iafallo 6-0 176 Left 12/21/93 Eden, New York U. Minn. Duluth NCHC 

43 Mario Lucia 6-3 195 Left 8/25/93 Fairbanks, Alaska Notre Dame  Hockey East 

50 Vinni Lettieri 5-9 170 Right 2/6/95 Excelsior, Minnesota U. Minnesota Big 10 

52 Alex Tuch 6-3.5 218 Right 5/10/96 Baldwinsville, New York Boston College HE 

57 Adam Gilmour 6-4 192 Right 1/29/94 Albany, New York Boston College HE 

59 Eric Scheid 5-9 163 Left 5/5/92 Coon Rapids, Minnesota Penn State Big 10 

62 Avery Peterson 6-3 200 Left 6/20/95 Grand Rapids, Minnesota Nebraska-Omaha
70 Adam Phillips 6-0 195 Right 8/11/90 Farmington Hills, Michigan UMass- Amherst HE 

71 Brooks Bertsch 5-11 185 Right 5/10/90 Dubuque, Iowa St. Cloud State NCHC 

73 Tanner Kero 5-11 175 Left 7/24/92 Hancock, Michigan Michigan Tech WCHA 

79 Grant Opperman 6-0 185 Right 11/15/93 Wayzata, Minnesota Dartmouth ECAC 

DEFENSEMEN (With College Hockey Connections)

5 Christian Folin 6-3 210 Right 2/9/91 Gothenburg, Sweden UMass-Lowell HE 

44 Gustav Olofsson 6-4 191 Left 12/1/94 Boras, Sweden Colorado College NCHC

60 Carson Soucy 6-5 200 Left 7/27/94 Viking, Alberta U. Minn. Duluth NCHC

72 Hunter Warner 6-2 202 Right 9/21/95 Eden Prairie, Minnesota Minn. State Mankato 

75 Zach Palmquist 5-11 175 Left 12/9/90 South St. Paul, Minnesota Minn. State Mankato WCHA 

80 Louie Belpedio 5-10 190 Right 5/14/96 Skokie, Illinois Miami U. NCHC 

GOALTENDER
86 Michael Shibrowski 6-1 199 Left 11/15/90 Andover, Minnesota U. Minnesota Big 10

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Minnesota Wild: Say no to Steve Ott

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The Wild need toughness, and I agree that they need to get tougher. However, let's hope the Wild don't sign this piece of dog excrement. I am not in favor of this move whatsoever.  Ott is one of those players that you would definitely hate, and don't ever want to see him on your team, either.

Russo's Rants -- Here’s a look at how the Wild is shaping up to look like next season. This will change undoubtedly throughout the summer as the Wild add and delete players.

Remember, at some point, the Wild’s expected to acquire a physical defenseman to replace Clayton Stoner. It may also look to replace the gritty element up front of Cody McCormick. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun -- the great Pierre LeBrun, I may add -- reports the Wild has shown interest in Steve Ott, the former Dallas Stars agitator/smack talker and Sabres captain who was dealt with Ryan Miller to St. Louis last season. He once fought Cal Clutterbuck twice in the same game after Ott ran Josh Harding either that game or the game before, I can't remember (video of that incident on bottom of blog). Ott can play center and wing and kills penalties.

Toronto has also shown interest in Ott, I have heard.

In my opinion, the Wild already have an agitator in Matt Cooke. They need a forward that can kill penalties, chip in offense and stick up for teammates. Ott has played in 696 NHL games for three different teams, he’s scored (103g-164a—267pts) and has accumulated 1,355 penalty in minutes.

Disclaimer: Of course my opinion on this matter is going to be jaded, I am both a Wild and Bruins fan and I wasn't impressed with his antics when he was with the Buffalo Sabres. I admit that.

Now They're all on the Same Team

So cool pic.twitter.com/FquugYYSIO
— Jeff Dubay (@jeffdubay) July 1, 2014

Now all three are on the same team.  Anyone else excited about Thomas Vanek being a member of the Minnesota Wild?