Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.Who's In: Andrew Brunette, F (FA-COL);
Owen Nolan, F (FA-CGY);
Marc-Andre Bergeron, D (Trade-ANH);
Marek Zidlicky, D (Trade-NSH);
Antti Miettinen, F (FA-DAL);
Craig Weller, F (FA-PHX)
Who's Out: Brian Rolston, F (FA-NJ);
Pavol Demitra, F (FA-VAN);
Todd Fedoruk, F (FA-PHX)
What's Changed: Hopefully, the Wild found some stability. General manager Doug Risebrough acknowledged he made a mistake by employing
ten players in contract years last year. As a result, there was a lot of player movement over the summer. Rolston should have been re-signed during the previous off-season. Once it was clear he would test free agency, it was also clear he wouldn't be back.
Risebrough tried to make up for his blunders (too many free agents and not re-signing Rolston) by taking a stab at
Marian Hossa, placing a bid for
Kristian Huselius, and also making a play at a
contract extension for
Marian Gaborik. None of these moves have been successful, however the potential for a Gaborik deal is far from dead as of this writing.
(Of course, this hasn't stopped fans of other teams from
dreaming.)
One of the perks of signing a guy like the Wild's Andrew Brunette is that you can rely on him to be in the lineup, despite his style of play. He's a rugged leader, and he goes in the tough areas. When he gets in the tough areas, he makes things happen.
