Latest news with #LTIR
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
What Each PWHL Team Is Watching For During the World Championship
The Women's World Championships are entering into the medal round in Czechia and soon the PWHL will resume with only three games remaining for all six PWHL teams. Here's what each team is keeping an eye on as the tournament play reaches its crucial stages. No doubt the Victoire are watching the line of Poulin, Gardiner, and Stacey shine as a unit for Canada and show that they can step up under pressure, which they'll need to do in the playoffs. But the biggest focus for the team is the performance and return to form for goaltender Ann Renee Desbiens. She's still the #1 Canadian goalie and it will be important that she is healthy and at the top of her game. Kristen Campbell has played well in her first game action for Canada at the World Championship, which is encouraging for Toronto. They have to be holding their breath that Campbell stays healthy since backup Raygan Kirk is currently on LTIR. It's also been worth noting the play of Hayley Scamurra for the U.S. since her game will likely thrive in the playoffs where checking is tighter. Hilary Knight, Megan Keller, and Aerin Frankel have simply continued their reliable games so far in the WWC. The Fleet are looking for defender Daniela Pejsova to find some confidence while playing with Czechia in her home country, since she's struggled to find a consistent role with Boston and has even played some minutes at forward. They could use her rugged game in the playoffs. With coach Carla MacLeod and the Czech contingent playing well and gaining momentum, the Charge are hoping that Katerina Mrazova remains healthy so she can be a contributor in the final three games to clinch a playoff spot. Ronja Savolainen has been outstanding defensively and offensively for Finland, and a possible injury in the quarterfinal game vs. Sweden could be a huge factor for Ottawa. A good result for Team USA would boost the Frost's stars as they push to regain their place in the top four. Kelly Pannek has had a great tournament. If Grace Zumwinkle and Taylor Heise step up and deliver, it would be a boost for Minnesota who desperately need their scoring. The team's two goalies stayed home for the break and have either polished some of their rough spots, or might need to shake off some rust to help get crucial points in the last three games. The Sirens' two superstars, Alex Carpenter and Sarah Fillier, have been playing huge roles for their teams, so no surprises there. Noora Tulus appears very comfortable with Finland, where she returned to a larger scoring and power play role. It appears that she has more to give, so a strong finish in the final games with New York would at least bode well for a return to form next season if the team doesn't pull off a miracle and qualify for the playoffs.
New York Times
12-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Oilers clinch playoff spot for sixth straight season, but injuries keep mounting
EDMONTON – It took until Game 78 of the regular season for the Edmonton Oilers to punch their ticket to the playoffs, but they're back where they're supposed to be. Now the most important question: What will the team look like when it gets there? The Oilers beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Friday to qualify for the postseason for the sixth consecutive season. They needed just one point to ensure the rival Calgary Flames couldn't pass them for third in the Pacific Division. Advertisement However, already playing without four impactful regulars, including Hart Trophy candidate Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers lost stars Mattias Ekholm and Zach Hyman against the Sharks. Both left the game and didn't return. The Oilers are limping toward the playoffs, figuratively and literally. They were third in the NHL by points percentage before a Jan. 30 game against the Detroit Red Wings. Friday's win was just their 14th win in 29 games since. Their 34 regulation wins on the season are good for sixth in the Western Conference. They are now slated to start a first-round series on the road for the first time with Draisaitl and Connor McDavid on the rosters. Injuries have made the last few weeks an uphill battle for the Oilers, something that was further exacerbated on Friday with Ekholm's and Hyman's departures. Ekholm returned to the lineup Friday after sitting out the last seven games, and 13 of the past 17, with a lower-body ailment. That second attempt at a return lasted just three shifts and 1:52 after he got tangled up with the Sharks' Ty Dellandrea in the neutral zone. Hyman left the game midway through the second period. Those departures left the Oilers with 11 forwards and five defencemen and only added to the lengthy list of sidelined players. Draisaitl remains out with a lower-body ailment. He's missed the last four games and eight of the past 11 due to injury. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch expects him back before the playoffs. Knoblauch said winger Trent Frederic (ankle) might not be available for Game 1 of the playoffs. Frederic, who was acquired March 4 from Boston, was limited to just 7:10 in his Oilers debut Saturday in Los Angeles after suffering a setback. Evander Kane hasn't played all season, and the status of the 33-year-old winger for the start of the playoffs hasn't been determined. Advertisement Jake Walman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have missed the last two games with an injury and illness, respectively, but both should be back in the lineup before the playoffs. Depth defenceman John Klingberg (foot) was put on LTIR on Wednesday, ruling him out as an option for the rest of the regular season. At least they got a couple players back this week. McDavid came back Wednesday after an eight-game absence with a lower-body injury. He recorded three assists in a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues and added another four helpers against the Sharks. Goalie Stuart Skinner (head) was also medically cleared and backed up Calvin Pickard on Friday after being unavailable for seven contests. On top of all the problems in recent weeks, there is uncertainty about who will start in net when the Oilers open the playoffs. Skinner has been out of commission since getting an inadvertent knee in the head from the Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen on March 26. Pickard has more impressive numbers and has helped the Oilers weather the storm in Skinner's absence. He stopped 22 shots on Friday. Skinner is scheduled to start two of the remaining three games, but it's an open competition for who will be tabbed for Game 1. 'We are going to play the goalie that's playing the best and giving us the best opportunity to win that night,' Knoblauch said before Friday's game. That's a lot of question marks for the defending Western Conference champions and the preseason Stanley Cup favourites. They've got three games remaining to cobble together a lineup and sort out some key personnel issues before the first round begins.
New York Times
04-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NHL rumblings: Postseason salary cap to be discussed in CBA negotiations, plus Flyers' plan for draft capital
The very first comment on my story earlier this week about injured NHL stars was telling. 'Pierre, do you think the next CBA will include the need for teams to be salary-cap compliant in the playoffs? It's a shame that recent miraculous 'Playoff Game 1' returns from long-term injuries are starting to make people question the legitimacy of injuries (or at least the timing of their returns) on teams who went shopping at the trade deadline,' wrote Athletic subscriber G.K. Advertisement Long-term injured reserve issues and the idea of a playoff salary cap have, I believe, been blown out of proportion over the past several years, but the topic is very much on the mind of many hockey fans. It began with Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015. Then, of course, there was the Nikita Kucherov and Tampa Bay Lightning situation in 2021. And then Mark Stone and the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023. But in between, all kinds of teams have used LTIR around the trade deadline to maximize cap space, etc.. All-in clubs like the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers have been very good and clever at it in recent years. This isn't about a few isolated cases. It's about the entire league. But to answer G.K.'s question from above? Yes. As I reported on TSN's 'Insider Trading' on Thursday, the league plans to bring up the LTIR playoff salary cap issue with the NHLPA in CBA extension talks, which began this week in New York. As to whether there's a CBA tweak that can be figured out, who knows? But at the very least, it's on the agenda for discussion. As for a solution, it's too early to tell what shape or form that could take. From an NHLPA perspective, it's always been difficult to know exactly how 750-plus players feel about this issue, but the hook I've always landed on is that one would think players would want as level a playing field as possible come playoff time, as far as teams competing evenly for a Stanley Cup. Solutions? Some GMs liked an idea that was floated last season by then-Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland and Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill. Nill shared it with me at the March 2024 GM meetings. 'You should be cap compliant for that game (in the playoffs),' Nill said. 'You can add $20 million if you want (via LTIR) for the playoffs, but for that game, your active roster has to be cap-compliant. That's how I would do it. Advertisement 'Because, you know, we don't know what injuries we're going to get. We can't dictate injuries. You can get an injury two days before the start of the playoffs. So if you have an opportunity, if you can add something to your team, you have to do it, that's your job. But within the cap world, we want fair competition for each game. Just be cap-compliant for a game. If you added $10 million, someone's going to have to sit out for a playoff game. That's just my take. Just be cap-compliant for a playoff game.' Ironically, Nill and the Stars have benefited from the LTIR rules this season, allowing them to make a splash at the deadline with injuries to Miro Heiskanen, Tyler Seguin and Nils Lundqvist opening up cap space. But I can assure you Nill feels the same way today as he did last year when I quoted him saying that. It's about finding something that works for everyone. But NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly in the past has found solutions like Nill's suggestion too simplistic for a complicated LTIR system. So honestly I'm not exactly sure what a tweak would look like, and perhaps in the end, the NHL and NHLPA won't find enough common ground. But at least they're going to talk about it. We'll see what, if anything, comes of it. Since Daniel Briere took over as GM in May 2023, the Philadelphia Flyers have been unflinching in their bigger-picture vision of what it's going to take to turn over the roster and build something with lasting power. It is a soul-sucking exercise at times, and the firing of head coach John Tortorella last week was no fun at all for the young Flyers GM. But through it all, there's been a consistent vision from Briere of where he wants this thing to go. Even after surprisingly flirting with a playoff berth last season, Briere and team president of hockey ops Keith Jones were transparent in communicating to everyone that they weren't done with the pain part of things — not that early into a rebuild that began less than two years ago. Advertisement In fact, they said, odds are the 2024-25 season would have more pain. And after selling off more pieces before the trade deadline, there was certainly more pain. Well worth it, the GM told The Athletic in Toronto last week, if they deliver on the overall plan. 'Our goal is not to just become a team that makes the playoffs and kind of just squeezes in. We want to be a team that when it's time, we go and eventually be a contender, and that's what we're trying to build,' Briere said. 'But to get there, you've got to go through some pain. … We believe in the end, this will help us be a better team.' The Flyers have three first-round picks in this June's draft: their own, plus picks acquired from the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche. They also have four second-round picks. They could use those in trades, as well. 'We're going to explore everything we can,' Briere said. 'Obviously we're excited about the picks, but it's more than just picks, it's assets. That's the way we see it. If we have a chance to make our team better quicker, we'll use those picks. It might be to move up in the draft. It might be to acquire a player or something that we need. We did a little bit of that in the trade with Toronto with (Nikita) Grebenkin. Him being 21 years old, he's a bit more mature, a bit more ready to help us sooner rather than later. Whereas you draft a player at 18 years old, sometimes it can take three or four years before they're ready to play. 'So we're definitely open to explore all kinds of different ways to start making our team better.' Would the Flyers be willing to trade one of their first-round picks? 'Yes, absolutely, we're open to different things,' Briere said. 'You need to two to tango, and you can't do that by yourself. But yes, if there are teams that are interested in doing that type of deal, yes …' Advertisement The idea is to try to move the rebuild up a phase this summer and hopefully add real pieces. Easier said than done, of course, but that's the plan. If they can pull it off, maybe they can contend for a playoff spot next season. The fear in any rebuild is getting stuck in forever-building mode and not getting over the hump. How does Briere make sure he never gets into that scary situation? 'You're a little bit at the mercy of the players when it comes to that,' he said. 'The players will tell you when they're ready to take that step. And we've seen it, we've seen guys take steps. We saw a lot of guys take a big step last year. It's part of the reason we almost made the playoffs last season. But we're going to need more. 'And the guys are aware. I like the mentality of our young guys. They want to be part of something special down the road. They know they got to put the time in for now.' (Top photo of Gary Bettman: Elsa / Getty Images)
New York Times
19-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How the Capitals defied expectations and built another contender around Alex Ovechkin
MANALAPAN, Fla. — As a rookie general manager in a room full of experienced hockey people, Chris Patrick is mostly in listen-only mode as he soaks in his first March GM meetings. 'To be totally honest, intimidating a bit,' the smiling GM of the first-place Washington Capitals told The Athletic on Tuesday after Day 2 of the meetings. 'Looking at the experience around the table, both on the NHL side and on the GM side, yeah there's legendary names up there, so yeah, just trying to keep my mouth shut, be respectful and try to add where I feel I can add. Advertisement 'It's been really fun. They're all-around a really good group. They're really accommodating and inclusive and really welcoming.' And yet some of those more-tenured GMs are the ones looking at the Capitals, commenting they'd like to maybe model a retool after what Washington has pulled off in its quick roster transformation the past few years. Talk about the ultimate compliment. 'Definitely humbling,' Patrick said. 'I think we were duplicating some other teams when we did it. You and I have talked in the past about some teams that I feel have done a really good job of not necessarily having top 10 overall draft picks but still being really competitive teams — conference finals, Stanley Cup contenders — so there's definitely a model out there. 'I think (Panthers GM) Bill Zito has shown that with what he's done in Florida. You can see it in Dallas. I mean Vegas certainly showed that you can go out and be aggressive on a trade and free-agent front to really improve your team. So the model's been there, and we were just fortunate to get some pieces to come our way and our ability to do it.' There's humility there, to be sure, but the Caps' aggressive retool has been nothing short of stunningly successful. Sure, it must be noted that they got lucky that veterans like Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie are more or less off the cap via LTIR, but you still have to go out and find pieces who fit. Last summer alone, they went out and acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jakob Chychrun, Andrew Mangiapane and Logan Thompson, as well as adding free agents Matt Roy, Taylor Raddysh and Brandon Duhaime, among others. Then they had an early-season trade for veteran center Lars Eller. In a league where we keep hearing how hard it is to make moves, the Caps have made a ton of them. It all goes back to the trade deadline two years ago. The Caps were out of a playoff spot and were sellers in some ways, trading away pending UFA Dmitry Orlov, for example, for a first-round pick. But then they turned around and dealt that same first-round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for young blueliner Rasmus Sandin. The summer before that, the Caps also took a chance on free agent Dylan Strome after he wasn't given a qualifying offer by Chicago. Advertisement Behind all of the moves was the philosophy of not wanting to do a full rebuild but rather as quick a roster makeover as possible. 'There was a decision around then that we should be trying to get younger players that are on the cusp of maybe getting comfortable in the NHL,' Patrick said. 'Guys like Rasmus and Dylan were good examples of that. You know, did we think at some point we'd have to do more a rebuild type thing? It definitely was on the table. But I don't think it was anything that anyone was pounding the table to do, because it's a lot harder than it looks. There's a lot of layers to it. 'And a lot of people in our organization went through it and did it to get Alex Ovechkin (more than 20 years ago). You know, you get those initial players and there's a lot more work to get yourself to be a contending team. When we started down that path this time of getting a bit younger, some of these players came in and played at or above our expectations and I felt like last summer there was a good opportunity to continue to do that.' The interesting part of taking a gamble of Dubois, for one, is that it had its roots in the Caps' attempt a year earlier to get in on trade talks for him when the Winnipeg Jets were dealing him. L.A. won out that time. The Caps remained confident a year later he would be a decent fit, despite how things played out with the Kings. 'For us, it was like, 'What's changed in the last year that we didn't want to do it now?'' Patrick said. 'We just looked at how he was used in L.A. and the other centers they had there and thought maybe that situation just didn't get the best out of his abilities.' The Kings are deep at center, for one. 'We thought maybe in our situation, I think, he'd have more opportunity to play the role he wanted to play,' Patrick said. 'We viewed him as a guy that thrives to play against the other team's top lines, and he was definitely going to get that opportunity with us. So that helped us kind of get comfortable on the type of player we were getting.' Advertisement The Caps were modest buyers at the deadline despite their first-place standing, adding forward Anthony Beauvillier. 'Going into the deadline, we looked at it as three ways we can go,' Patrick said. 'We could do absolutely nothing and probably be fine. We could do what we did and add a piece that we thought would be very helpful and useful to us. Or we could go for a bigger splash. 'The prices, to me, were elevated this year. There were fewer sellers, and there were teams in the mix actually saying, 'We're going to shop a bit here, too, instead of just holding firm.' So, to me, the price not only in picks but the level of prospects that were moving was kind of high for us. We have some prospects that we really like, and I think other teams like them, too. We just didn't feel that was the right time to be making those types of deals.' So they went the moderate route with Beauvillier, whom they feel is a great fit. They also could bring in top prospect Ryan Leonard once his college season is over. 'We'll make a push for him and see if he's ready to come out (of college) and join us,' Patrick said. 'That would be almost like a deadline add.' There's been contract work in-season, too. Both Caps goalies were pending unrestricted free agents, Thompson enjoying a career season and Charlie Lindgren having his breakout year the season before. It wasn't easy to navigate having two goalies on expiring deals and knowing it was impossible to get both signed at the exact same time. But both got extended. 'It was very hard, and credit to both players for being very professional throughout, and credit to both their representations for understanding the position I was in and being good to work with to trying to find something to get something done,' Patrick said. 'In both cases, it felt like we got a really good point on both players and deals that made sense for both sides. Advertisement 'With the goaltending position, it's hard, because you want to support your teammate, but there's also that inherent competition in that only one of you gets to play every night. So you're dealing with different things than maybe with a forward or a defenseman. But it speaks to both Logan and Charlie being really good professionals, really serious about their craft and really buying into what we're trying to do in Washington and wanting to stick around for it.' An extension has not yet happened, though, with Chychrun, also a pending UFA. 'We'll continue to talk,' Patrick said. 'I'm hopeful we'll get something done, and I think Jakob is in the same boat. I think he's really liked the situation in Washington. I think it's been good for both sides. He's been a good fit for our group and I think our group is good for him.' The group, of course, is still led by captain Alex Ovechkin, who continues to close in on Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record. So far, that story, which is getting bigger and bigger by the day, hasn't taken away from the team's focus in the stretch run. Patrick feels that's a testament to No. 8, who doesn't want to let it become a distraction. It wasn't that long ago that a lot of people looked at an aging Caps team and figured Ovechkin one day would be trying to chase down the goals record on a bottom-dweller in for a long rebuild. The cherry on top, to be sure, is that the goals chase is happening during the renaissance. 'They kind of go hand in hand,' Patrick said. 'The better the team that's around Alex, the better chance that he's going to score goals, in my opinion. Not only the talent level of players around him, but our ability to get him matchups where he's going to have a better chance to exploit opportunities to score. I think a lot of stuff we did last summer helped in that regard. 'So for me, I'd be lying if I said this is exactly where we thought we'd be a year ago. But I mean, the goal was, 'Let's not just send Alex out there and say go score goals.' We have to have a supporting cast around him that allows us to put him in a position to score. Because at the end of the day, he's 39 years old playing a game that 39-year-olds don't play. So we had to recognize that we had to build up as much as we can around him.' Advertisement The funny thing about a Caps team running away with the Eastern Conference top seed is that they're still not that popular a pick to come out of it. In fact, the most popular narrative out there (which I'm guilty of) is saying that the East this year is as wide open as it's been in a long time. That there is no juggernaut team in the East. Are the Caps offended they seemingly still have to keep proving themselves to people? Nah. 'I'm completely fine with that,' Patrick said, smiling. 'As a front office, we're not one that wants to be mentioned in every article, and we don't want all the accolades. For us, it's the team on the ice. We think we've put them in a good position to have success. But as everyone knows, once the playoffs start, it's a whole new season and everybody's points go back to zero. And every team that's in there has a chance to win. There's so much parity now in the league. 'So yeah, I'm not going to sit here and worry, 'Are we getting enough credit?' Because we need to keep our heads down and keep working and be ready for a whole new level of play once Game 1 starts.'
New York Times
10-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Wild insider: Pressure's on Bill Guerin to turn this team into an actual contender this summer
ST. PAUL, Minn — The message from Bill Guerin following Friday's trade deadline was pretty simple. It was also not new. 'It's not our time,' Guerin said. 'We'll have our time.' The Wild president of hockey operations and general manager has been playing the long game, repeating these same words for a few years now. And for a while, it made sense. The cap hell the team went into when Guerin convinced owner Craig Leipold to buy out Ryan Suter and Zach Parise was significant. It also had an expiration date. GO DEEPER Wild GM Bill Guerin on not pulling LTIR lever while rivals bulked up at deadline: 'Our time will come' That's this summer, when $14.7 million of dead cap becomes $1.7 million, and combined with a significant rise in the NHL cap, there's the chance for a spending spree that could help make the Wild a serious contender. Let's be honest. The Wild aren't one now. They really never have been in Guerin's six seasons at the helm, during which they've had zero playoff round victories. Guerin admitted as much this preseason. And his actions at the deadline are further proof, adding 35-year-old Gustav Nyquist and fourth-line winger Justin Brazeau. Advertisement 'We've got a plan going for four years and I'm not going to screw it up being short-sighted,' Guerin said. That begs the question: What is the actual plan? GO DEEPER The Wild's bold moves never made them 'serious contenders.' What now? This upcoming UFA class isn't full of game-changers. Gone is Mikko Rantanen, who signed an eight-year, $12 million AAV deal with the Dallas Stars. One of the Wild's top targets, Brock Nelson, could very well extend his contract with the Colorado Avalanche, who acquired him at the deadline. Mitch Marner, the expected belle of the ball, will demand a king's ransom, and who here thinks the Wild will pony up for him while they're attempting to sign Kirill Kaprizov to a mega extension? Then there's 34-year-old John Tavares, 35-year-old Jamie Benn and 37-year-old Claude Girioux. Brock Boeser may very well be in play as a UFA, but is overpaying for him the only — and best — plan when Canucks GM Patrik Allvin admitted Friday that the offers he received for Boeser at the deadline were underwhelming? Nobody said the Wild should have been big-game hunting at this year's trade deadline. We've all been told for the past month that they'd have no cap space, and that is true, assuming Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin all return before the end of the regular season. But we'll believe it when we see it. None of them are even skating yet. This is why there have been so many questions the past few weeks about why the Wild wouldn't throw at least one of these three on long-term injured reserve to end the season the way other teams routinely do to create cap space at the deadline. Guerin isn't wrong when he alluded to prices Friday being outrageous, and he didn't want to trade away a bunch of assets he could use for trades this summer if free agency isn't the sole mechanism to make this team better. But nobody says the Wild had to break the bank and toss away a bunch of assets for Rantanen or Nelson. Advertisement They had other pressing needs like killing penalties and winning draws — a problem for the Wild for years and something that could doom them again if they make the playoffs, considering Guerin didn't address either weakness Friday. How about Nico Sturm, an elite faceoff guy and penalty killer who was acquired by the Panthers (along with a seventh-rounder) for a measly fourth-rounder and only makes $2 million? Surely there were other guys out there that fit the bill, too. Instead, the Wild traded two young penalty killers — Marat Khusnutdinov and Jakub Lauko — for Justin Brazeau. Brazeau, a fourth-line winger who doesn't skate particularly well, was described by the Wild as bringing size, good hands below the dots and a net-front presence to the power play. Well, Brazeau played just 4 minutes, 10 seconds Sunday in a damaging loss to the Penguins, appearing on none of the Wild's six power plays and playing two shifts the last two periods. Nyquist, who was supposed to chip in offensively and help both the penalty kill and power play, has zero points in his four games back with the team. Would they have acquired Brazeau if their two offseason acquisitions hadn't failed to deliver? Lauko kept getting injured. Yakov Trenin has been an utter disappointment since signing a four-year, $14 million deal ($3.5 million average annual value), even getting healthy scratched at one point this season. Trenin played seven minutes on Sunday: not a sign of trust from the coaches. One of Trenin or Brazeau could be healthy scratched once Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek come back. If the Wild weren't actually a contender needing a piece to get over the hump, why would they make a signing like Trenin one summer away from getting their cap shackles off? Why give up so many picks, including this year's first-rounder, for David Jiricek, knowing there's not really a space for him in the lineup this year and next, unless there's a planned trade of Zach Bogosian or captain Jared Spurgeon that we don't know about? Advertisement Jiricek, called up last week, has been a healthy scratch in four games since. He needs to be playing, either here or in the AHL. Guerin hoped to give his team a needed 'boost' at the deadline, knowing they had been struggling. Since Jan. 9, the Wild — who in mid-December were the No. 1 team in the NHL — rank 28th with 20 standings points, 32nd at 2.26 goals per game, 24th with 3.22 goals against per game, 17th with a 22 percent power play and 30th with a 66.8 percent penalty kill. Now comes a 3-1 loss to the lottery-bound Penguins, a team that gave up no five-on-five goals to the Wild despite ranking last in the league in that metric. The Avalanche arrive Tuesday. That's the other thing with Guerin saying 'our time will come.' It's not like the Avalanche, who entered the year with no cap space and still added and added at the deadline, are going away anytime soon. Same with the Stars, who have among the top young cores in the league. The Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers are staying atop the Pacific. Several building teams, like Utah, will only get better. Guerin not only has to sell other free agents on the Wild being legitimate contenders with those teams, but he also has to give his best pitch to his own superstar, Kaprizov. Let's be clear, there's no 'plan' — three-year, five-year, etc — that doesn't involve Kaprizov being the centerpiece. Kaprizov, the best player in franchise history, can sign an extension July 1, one year removed from unrestricted free agency. He also has played three games since Christmas, with an undetermined return date. Asked if the Rantanen deal set a bar for Kaprizov this summer, Guerin said, 'I'm not going there.' That's because Guerin knows $12 million ain't getting it done for Kaprizov. Will $15 or $16 million? Kaprizov wants to win as much — or more — as anybody. And if he's going to invest the rest of his prime to stay in Minnesota, you can bet he'll have to believe in Guerin's plan. Advertisement Guerin was combative in Friday's post-deadline media session. 'I'm not being a wiseass,' he said. 'I'm not here to make (the media's) trade deadline day better. I'm running a business. I'm running a team. Our time will come.' Well, also not trying to be a wiseass, this summer will be put up or shut up time for Guerin. The wait is over. It's time to turn the Wild into a serious contender.
