Marek Zidlicky signs new contract; Clayton Stoner contract extension
by nathaneide on Mar 2, 2010 1:39 PM CST
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PrintMichael Russo is reporting that the Wild and Marek Zidlicky have agreed to a new contract for three years, $12 million. The sticking point was apparently the no-trade clause, which ended up being for the first half of the new contract.
This contract ensures that Zidlicky will be around through the 2012-2013 season. Say what you want, but Zidlicky has been the only defenseman on whom the team can rely to get points, until we see what the team gets from Cam Barker. I have absolutely no problem with this deal, even with the Islanders getting a 2nd round in return for Andy Sutton.
From Buddha:
My thoughts are as follows, and this may not be the popular opinion. Zidlicky is an excellent offensive d-man. He is no Mike Green, but he is the record setter for points by a defenseman in team history, with 21 games still to play. The $4 million per year cap hit is the current going rate for a player of his ilk. Fletcher signed a good player to a good deal. He did not over pay, and he did not over sign for term, either.
Russo says the no trade clause is for the first half of the deal, which is fair, I guess. I hate NTCs, but if it is what it took to get the deal done, so be it.
Let's face it. Zidlicky is a better offensive d-man than any other guy on the team, save for Barker, who is a relative unknown right now. Burns may come around, still, but I have my doubts. He fits the system perfectly. Sure, his defense is lacking, but so is every offensive d-man. Guess what though? He isn't Martin Skoula, and he is not making nearly $5 million per like Kim Johnsson was.
I was certainly hoping to see him get traded. Not because I don't like Zids, but because I wanted to see what Fletcher could get for him. With second round picks flying around for mediocre d-men, it would have been interesting to see what the package was.
Alas, we shall never know. Welcome back, Zids.
In other news: Clayton Stoner has also signed a two-year extension. It's a $1.1 million deal; one-way deal in 10-11 and a two-way deal in 11-12 at $105K in the AHL. Not a bad move frankly, the kid showed promise before his hernia. We'll see how he recovers.
Ok folks, what do we think? Decent deal?
We're keeping our ears to the ground for word on a Guillaume Latendresse contract and an Owen Nolan or Eric Belanger trade.
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HA!
They choose the best pictures for those stat bars, don’t they? Zids looks like they caught him pinching a loaf.
Yeah
And I had to hack the Stoner one. He had no picture.
Proprietor of Hockey Wilderness - We take Minnesota hockey WAY too seriously.
Lots of money on the blue line
with Zid, Burns, and Barker.
Maybe we can try and pawn Dubielewicz off on Edmonton? Looks like they’re going to need a designated driver for Khabi.
I don’t think Fletch is done with trades. I think the summer is going to be interesting, too.
I keep having this feeling that Burns is not going to be around next season. No evidence of that, but I just have the feeling he goes out as part of deal for something else. Also need to extend Mikko at some point.
I think Fletch might be kicking himself for backing out on the Heatley deal when Ottawa insisted on Burns being included in the trade. It would have been tricky to work with PMB still in the picture from a cap perspective, but giving Havlat a finisher earlier in the season would have vastly improved our position. Sykora was the right idea, but sadly we all know what a dismal failure that turned out to be.
Mikko needs to have an extension done by the end of the day on 7/1; I will accept nothing less. Back up the Brinks truck and get it done.
I agree with this
It seems like Fletch has stacked the blueline in order to make a move soon. Barker, Burns, Zanon, Zidlicky, Schultz, and Stoner? Putting 1 of those players in the 3rd pairing with Stoner is a huge waste of money, especially if it’s Barker or Burns.
As much upside as Burns has, maybe Fletch doesn’t think he’s going to work with the new system. Burns has incredible trade value.
I’d hate to see him go though.
by ADN on Mar 2, 2010 3:08 PM CST up reply actions
Crap, that picture should have been in reply to BReynolds…but you get the idea.
And I made the mistake of looking at the Facebook comments regarding the signing. Oh my lord. You can tell who the fanboys are and the girls who only watch hockey for masturbation-fodder.
The Twins page is equally as horrible.
Some of the comments on the Wild page…wow.
RonGarde: Target Field is going to be exactly like Progressive Field, except you'll have a chance to die of frostbite in the middle of July
hahaha
Had to go look at the facebook page after this comment.
“OMG sign belanger and nolan right away!!!”
YIKES.
by ADN on Mar 2, 2010 3:35 PM CST up reply actions
At the risk of outing myself I did defend Havlat/Boogie/Nolan against the sweater douche.
by TylerDurdenUMD on Mar 2, 2010 3:40 PM CST up reply actions
Russo's later note,
That the Wild are now at $45.4 million committed to 15 guys next year, with a cap staying around $56, is a bit… well, it’ll be worth remembering. That isn’t a lot of space to work with to do anything major, and a Latendresse extension will cut into that a bit.
The Falness interview w/ Zid is in...
http://downloads.wild.nhl.com/podcasts/1599_ZIDLICKY.MP3
1) Kevin seemed to take a cue from the Olympics in interviewing. State the obvious, get an answer, and keep asking questions to arrive a the same damn answer.
2) We’ve all been pronouncing his damn name wrong. Every damn one of us, I guarantee it!
from Russo:
I just had a long talk with #mnwild GM Chuck Fletcher. I now think Owen Nolan’s staying. Explanation later on startribune.com/russo
What’s with the Sutton hating?
He’s been worth a late second rounder for a rental, there were even rumors he might fetch as high as a late 1st prior to the Olympic break. I’ll refer you to Dom @ Lighthouse Hockey’s article on the Myths of Andy Sutton for the details, the guy has been outstanding for the Islanders this year.
Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer extortion. The X makes it sounds cool.
Well
the vote is overwhelmingly for the contract extension with Zids.
I’ll only be sold with this deal if one of the other 3 million dollar d-men get shipped off.
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