Doug Risebrough off to Slovakia to try to sign Gabby

All you have to do is watch this video to realize how dynamic of a player Marian Gaborik is. So Doug Risebrough is finally making a smart decision to begin to negotiate a new contract with Gabby before the old one expires. I just hope that Gabby wants to stay with the Wild.

With that being said hopefully the Wild GM Doug Risebrough has learned from this off season that if you don't sign your big free agents before their contracts are up they will get contract offer from somewhere else like Rolston and Demitra did. Gabrik is the face of the Minnesota Wild and they must sign him or the Wild take the chance of upsetting the Wild faithful.

The Wild general manager is scouting a tournament in Slovakia, but he will gauge the winger's desire to stay in Minnesota before making an offer.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Doug Risebrough will leave for Slovakia on Sunday for a trip he hopes "kills two birds with one stone."

The Wild general manager is flying overseas to scout the Ivan Hlinka tournament, an under-18 tournament with several 2010 draft-eligible players.

But Risebrough's real intent, and undoubtedly the most important, is to make a side trip to Trencin, the hometown of Marian Gaborik, for a conversation with the high-scoring right winger.

Gaborik, 26, the Wild's all-time leader with 206 goals and 414 points, is a year from unrestricted free agency. In the coming days, the Wild plans to offer Gaborik a groundbreaking extension in hopes of locking him up for four to seven years.

But the Wild has held off commencing negotiations until Risebrough can sit down with Gaborik, "look him in the eye," and make sure Gaborik wants to commit long-term to Minnesota.

Risebrough said he planned to call Gaborik this weekend to set up the meeting.

"I haven't arranged it yet, but obviously I want to sit down with Marian while I'm over there," Risebrough said Friday from his offseason home in Banff, Alberta. "I just want to make sure we're on the same page."

Gaborik will make $7.5 million in the final year of his contract this season. His average salary cap hit is $6.33 million.

The Wild plans to make an offer averaging in the $8.5 million cap-hit range. As of today, if Gaborik signed any contract averaging more than $7.8 million and less than $8.7 million, he would have the fourth-largest average contract in the NHL after superstars Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and right above Brad Richards and Vincent Lecavalier.

Here is a misconception that some of the clueless fans have. Gaborik is worth every last cent he should be paid to stay with the Wild. Check out these comments.

in no way should Risebrough make this guy the fourth highest paid player in the league. He was totally ineffective in the play-offs and he is due to pull his groin or hammie again and miss about 30 games. And if he gives any vibe that he isn't committed to playing here, get rid of him now. Jagr may have started something by signing to play in eastern Europe. We are no longer the dominant marketplace (USA). Look for more of our talented NHL players to jump ship for more money worldwide.

posted by edholmd on Aug. 9, 08 at 10:15 AM>