The Next Big Thing: More on The Rumor Mill

The Next Big Thing is an ongoing series of blogs about what has Wild fans spinning, what has the bees in our collective bonnets buzzing.

A small disclaimer before I post my first entry to the Wilderness. A couple weeks ago, Marian Gaborik made the comment that "If they would just give me what I want, we wouldn't be talking about it." This led to an entry on my old blog declaring that I have lost all respect for Gaborik, and I gave him a new moniker, "Uncle Moneybags." So as to not involve this blog in the current hullabaloo going on over at Covered in Oil, I hereby offer Mr. Gaborik the opportunity to reply. I am not trying to hide behind an anonymous blog, throwing insults out there. My email is posted, if Mr. Gaborik would like to challenge the new nickname, I am more than willing to listen. I also will not link back to my old blog going forward, but I wanted you, the reader to be able to see some of the background from my angle. With that said...

Doesn't seem like it took long for the last Next Big Thing to pass, does it? Seems the speculation over the trading of Moneybags is more important to the fans than the play of "the Kids."

And boy, are the fans ramped up right now. All over the net, fans are up until the wee hours of the morning on the message boards, and back as soon as they get up, just to see if anything happened, and to check in with the latest round of speculation.

Around a week ago, the rumor was floated of a Chris Higgins and a host of combinations of prospects or picks for Moneybags. Some fans are in favor of the trade, others not so much, figuring it would be better to trade him straight up for Evgeni Malkin.

While the rumor of the trade has gained momentum, especially with the GM meeting in Chicago in two days, haven't we here on the internet found that we can digest these things and move on quickly? Today the reporting on the potential deal continues, with both Shipley and Russo putting new articles online and in print about the same deal we were talking about for the last week.

The only new twist that has popped up is this post from Eric Engels of the Monetreal Gazette, stating flat out why the deal won't work, and why the Habs should have nothing to do with it. If that doesn't serve as a wake up call for some Wild fans, I don't know what will. Russo and Shipley report that there are GMs telling Doug Risebrough they aren't interested, and now the beat writers on the other side of the deal are saying the deal makes no sense for their side. Makes me start (continue?) to wonder if Uncle Moneybags has the value he and his agent really think they do.

 My esteemed colleague Neide has a poll at the bottom of his post this morning about the trade rumors. As of the writing of this post, the response was 50% in favor of the Higgins deal, 50% opposed. I for one voted that yes I would accept it. Not because I think it is the best Risebrough can do, but because it is time for the circus to end, and this deal is the first one with teeth that has been reasonable.

Trade the man, and let the team move on without him. The Wild have the ability to score, the ability to gut it out, and a more than solid defense. And they have Mikko Koivu, which is all you really need.

*Above photo from The Hockey News*

-Buddha