Pierre-Marc Bouchard signs with Minnesota Wild

by MN Wild Freak on Jul 28, 2008 11:14 AM CDT in News Comment 4 comments

At the end of last season, I put a poll on my MN Wild Freak blog, asking readers which free agent should be the top signing priority for the Minnesota Wild. Brian Rolston and Pierre-Marc Bouchard tied. Well, we all know what happened to Rolston...but the Wild did manage to sign PMB this weekend to a five-year, $20.4 million contract...funny that is the same amount of money Brian Rolston fetched from New Jersey (20 mil/4 yr). I find it interesting that the Minnesota Wild powers that be determined Bouchard was worthy of a multi-year deal worth 20 mill over Brian Rolston. Clearly, AGE was a big factor.

The Minnesota Wild has always signed guys looking at the future as opposed to just next season. PMB is a young guy and will be able to play at a top level for the duration of his contract and let's face it, Brian Rolston is a bit older and taking the bumps and the bruises of the NHL in three years is going to be tough for him.

With an eye into the future, the Minnesota Wild believes they will be competitive every season, not just next season. I respect that methodology, but at some point, we have to find the player combination that will get us past the first round of the playoffs.

My favorite part about the PMB signing - the verbal agreement that the team will not trade him for 2 years. It was a handshake deal, nothing in writing, but the team agreed to keep him as long as he agrees to step it up. I think it is a good sign that the player and the management team trust each other. Thoughts Minnesota Wild fans??

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PMB Age Factor

I think that age has been, is and always will be a huge determining factor with this team. At least as long as the current management is in place. They’re always looking to the future of the team, which is awesome, a lot of NHL teams lack the same development programs that the Minnesota Wild has in place – but we also have to spend money on the good veterans, because if we just trade away our players when they start “aging” (if 30s are old…..), then we’re basically developing these young players for other teams to come in and swipe them when they’ve matured…which is never going to win us a cup.

by cortneystorsved on Jul 31, 2008 2:02 PM CDT reply actions

PMB

I like how the Minnesota Wild are forward-thinking, but in a state where we always seem to release talent (Torii Hunter, Kevin Garnett) it gets frustrating to see great players leave us for other teams. Ideally, we’d have a combination of fresh and experienced talent so that we were a stronger team.

by Hockey7 on Aug 13, 2008 12:02 PM CDT reply actions