Updated free agent signings.

DATE	NAME	POS	FROM	TO	Total	Years	Avg/Yr
								Jul 6	Summers, Chris	D	Phoenix	Phoenix	$550K	1	$550K
Jul 6	McNeill, Patrick	D	Washington	Columbus	n/a	1	n/a
Jul 6	Roy, Derek	C	Vancouver	St. Louis	$4M	1	$4M
Jul 6	Jones, Ryan	RW	Edmonton	Edmonton	n/a	1	n/a
Jul 6	Pardy, Adam	D	Buffalo	Winnipeg	$600K	1	$600K
Jul 6	Santorelli, Mike	C	Winnipeg	Vancouver	n/a	n/a	n/a
Jul 6	Samson, Jerome	RW	Carolina	Winnipeg	n/a	n/a	n/a
Jul 6	Gordon, Andrew	RW	Vancouver	Winnipeg	n/a	n/a	n/a
Jul 6	Sulzer, Alexander	D	Buffalo	Buffalo	n/a	1	n/a

For the most part, a pretty light day when it comes to free NHL Free agent signings. Nothing major today.

There is no way of sugar coating it the Wild's Matt Cooke is a P.O.S.

Yesterday, my good buddy Redwing77 pinged me on Twitter to let me know that the Wild had picked up Penguins d-bag Matt Cooke. I was in the process of picking my daughter up from daycare, so I hadn't been paying attention very closely. So, he confirmed one of my biggest fears. The Wild had picked up the Penguins unrestricted free agent Matt Cooke. I also have to wonder if the NHL's Department of Player head Brendan Shanahan already has Chuck Fletcher's cell phone number in is speed dial?

@goon48 MATT COOKE with the #mnwild! HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
— Daniel Levitt (@DanLevitt7) July 5, 2013

I don't care what Matt Cooke says or what the Globe and Mail says about Matt Cooke, he is the same d-bag that ruined the career of Marc Savard and has been suspended over 27 games by the National Hockey League. This is not a good pick-up for the Minnesota Wild.



To all of those people out there that say, "oh, you're going to learn to love this guy." There's no way; there's not a snow balls chance in hell, that I will ever come to love or respect this worthless piece of crap. Never! There is no way to justify this signing, what-so-ever. Again, this is a very bad signing by the Minnesota Wild.

With the Cooke signing, the Wild's star players are going to have open season on them now. The first time Cooke runs around and starts hitting people from behind or catches someone with a questionable hit and he won't drop the gloves, someone is going to run Zach Parise or another star player from the Wild. Mike Rupp is going to be extra busy having to defend this clown.

Here's what the Wild GM had to say on signing the gutless puke Matt Cooke.

Michael Russo, Star Tribune -- Fletcher called Cooke the ideal third-line winger — blocks shots, has scored 12-19 goals in seven of his 12 full seasons despite little power-play time, “angles well, cycles well, is good along the wall,” skates well and has played more than 1,000 regular-season and playoff games.

He won a Stanley Cup with Wild coach Mike Yeo as Pittsburgh’s assistant in 2009. Still, because of his reputation, some Wild fans voiced shock and vitriol at the signing on social media — a similar reaction to when former Wild GM Doug Risebrough traded for Chris Simon in 2008.

“Matt is a player that brings a lot to the table,” Fletcher said. “I think when everybody watches him as a player and focuses in on what he is now as a player versus what his reputation is as a player, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised of what you see.”

Again, there is only one way to deal with a player like Matt Cooke, insert Evander Kane.

@hockeywildernes @goon48 https://t.co/FU7Dc0UkYB
— Jay Medin (@jaymedin) July 6, 2013

Related articles

• Wilderness Walk 7/6/13: Matt F!#$^@& Cooke Edition (hockeywilderness.com)
• Penguins Puke Matt Cooke boards Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• 2013 Free Agency Open Thread: Day 2 (hockeywilderness.com)
• Minnesota Wild trade Setoguchi, sign Cooke (hockeywilderness.com)

Updated Free Agent Signings.

Jul 6	Summers, Chris	D	Phoenix	Phoenix	$550K	1	$550K
Jul 6	McNeill, Patrick	D	Washington	Columbus	n/a	1	n/a
Jul 6	Roy, Derek	C	Vancouver	St. Louis	$4M	1	$4M
Jul 6	Jones, Ryan	RW	Edmonton	Edmonton	n/a	1	n/a
Jul 6	Pardy, Adam	D	Buffalo	Winnipeg	$600K	1	$600K
Jul 6	Santorelli, Mike	C	Winnipeg	Vancouver	n/a	n/a	n/a
Jul 6	Samson, Jerome	RW	Carolina	Winnipeg	n/a	n/a	n/a
Jul 6	Gordon, Andrew	RW	Vancouver	Winnipeg	n/a	n/a	n/a
Jul 6	Sulzer, Alexander	D	Buffalo	Buffalo	n/a	1	n/a
Jul 5	Khabibulin, Nikolai	G	Edmonton	Chicago	$2M	1	$2M
Jul 5	Johnson, Chad	G	Phoenix	Boston	$600K	1	$600K
Jul 5	Cooke, Matt	LW	Pittsburgh	Minnesota	$7.5M	3	$2.5M
Jul 5	Iginla, Jarome	RW	Pittsburgh	Boston	$6M	1	$6M
Jul 5	Bolduc, Alexandre	C	Phoenix	St. Louis	$550K	1	$550K
Jul 5	Mancari, Mark	RW	Buffalo	St. Louis	$600K	1	$600K
Jul 5	Pouliot, Benoit	LW	Tampa Bay	NY Rangers	$1.3M	1	$1.3M
Jul 5	Ryder, Michael	RW	Montreal	New Jersey	$7M	2	$3.5M
Jul 5	Lapierre, Maxim	C	Vancouver	St. Louis	$2.2M	2	$1.1M
Jul 5	Koivu, Saku	C	Anaheim	Anaheim	$2.5M	1	$2.5M
Jul 5	Adams, Craig	C	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	$1.4M	2	$700K
Jul 5	Olesz, Rostislav	C	Chicago	New Jersey	$1M	1	$1M
Jul 5	Desbiens, Guillaume	RW	Vancouver	Colorado	$600K	1	$600K
Jul 5	Wyman, J.T.	RW	Tampa Bay	Colorado	$750K	1	$750K
Jul 5	Holden, Nick	D	Columbus	Colorado	$1.2M	2	$600K
Jul 5	Hamilton, Ryan	LW	Toronto	Edmonton	$1.2M	2	$600K
Jul 5	Johnson, Aaron	D	Boston	NY Rangers	$600K	1	$600K
Jul 5	Brennan, T.J.	D	Nashville	Toronto	$600K	1	$600K
Jul 5	Richardson, Brad	RW	Los Angeles	Vancouver	$2.3M	2	$1.15M
Jul 5	Schultz, Jeff	D	Washington	Los Angeles	$700K	1	$700K
Jul 5	Weber, Yannick	D	Montreal	Vancouver	$650K	1	$650K

The Wild make some Wild moves (RW77) - UPDATED

Alternate logo since 2000. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Free Agency has started and with it comes some interesting moves.

First, the Wild traded away Devon Setoguchi for a 2nd round pick, but that's a "who cares" kindof trade.  The big news?

THE CHEAPEST HACK IN THE NHL IS NOW A MINNESOTA WILD!

Matt Cooke, more famous for ending careers than winning games, signed a 3 year contract with the Minnesota Wild.


Ok, the upside to this:  Matt Cooke is a big hitting forward that is an obvious replacement of Cal Clutterbuck.  He has been on winning teams in the past.  He can score goals on occasion.  He was nominated for the Masterton and lost to current Wild Josh Harding.

The downside?  This is a player that is almost universally reviled.  I say almost because the Pens fans still defend him for the same reason, invariably, that Wild fans will inevitably defend him:  He's on your team.  Another downside?  He's one blindside Savard-esque hit from being McSorley'd.  This guy skates on thin ice everywhere he goes.

CORRECTION:  3 years $7.5 million contract or $2.5 million a year.  THAT, my friends, is OVERPAYING worse than Stalberg's new contract.

He did have a decent year last year blocking shots but then again, someone had to because Marc Andre Sievry couldn't.

Trust me when I say it:  This was a BAD idea.  If the Wild really did want Cooke's services, they should have gone for a 1 year contract with a club option (if that's possible) for a second year.  He may have only had 36 PIM in 48 games last season, but he's still one of the most if not the most dangerous skater in the NHL and that's saying something (as a Red Wings fan who couldn't defend the Wings' signing Bertuzzi).

Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) on Twitter said it best:  The Wild traded 1 year contract of Devon Setoguchi for 1 2nd round pick and 3 years of Matt Cooke.

Be Proud Minnesota.

Goon the Magnificent Carnac: Ballard to the Wild

Back in May I was suggesting that the Minnesota Wild pick up Keith Ballard and yesterday the former Gopher defenseman was signed by the Minnesota Wild. Also, two players that I wanted to see gone from the Wild roster are no longer here.  I am thinking, I need to go out and buy a lottery ticket this weekend. Below is what I wrote...

Based on what I have seen during the past season, I would say that the Minnesota Wild are challenged defensively, after the first defensive pairing of Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin, the Wild are thin on defense and need some help.

Granted, Jared Spurgeon is a great up and coming offensive defenseman and Marco Scandella proved to be a nice surprise during the Wild's short playoff run. After that, Justin Falk proved that he's a defensive liability and at times look like a big green road cone. Former Badgers defenseman Tom Gilbert looked to have taken a step back this past season and I was unimpressed with his play as well because he was a defensive liability.

In my opinion, the Minnesota Wild could use a solid stay-at-home defenseman or two. Former Minnesota Defenseman Keith Ballard "could" be a candidate for an amnesty buyout in Vancouver and might be available to come to the Minnesota Wild at a reduced rate.

I know people get lucky sometimes but here is what I submitted for the season grades for Tom Gilbert and funny how things worked out for the Minnesota Wild.

Tom Gilbert: D

The former Wisconsin Badger Tom Gilbert is an utter disappointment in my opinion, that Wild are being cheated, he’s not worth the money he’s being paid. Gilbert is being paid a hefty four million a year to be a turnover factory and an unimpressive top-six defenseman. If I was a general manager for a day, he would be the first Wild player out of Minnesota; Justin Falk would be number two. The Wild should consider his four million dollar contract for an Amnesty buyout this summer as well. If they Wild could trade him for a bag of wood hockey sticks I would urge them to consider the deal. One positive is that he can’t play any worse than he did this season. Nowhere to go but up for Gilbert, I don’t think he can play any worse. Looking at the stats, in the plus/minus department, -11 is brutal.