Gaborik Draws Interest, Parrish Staying in Northwest?
August 3rd, 2008 by Jason ChenEklund at www.hockeybuzz.com reports that Minnesota forward Marian Gaborik is drawing strong interest from teams, especially the Pens, Sabres, and Sens. I don’t know what Doug Risebrough is thinking, but unless he wants to completely write off the season, he would not do this trade. Of course, that also depends on what he gets in return, but we’ve seen too many trades that try to match quantity with quality, and we know how well that turns out. Gaborik has been the centrepiece of the Wild offense for years, despite the fact that he finds himself on the injured list quite a bit. The Pens, Sabres, and Sens are the teams that are rumoured to be heavily bidding for his services, but I would think that 27 other teams are as well. Rumours happen when GMs start kicking tires, and that happens daily because it’s their job. When healthy, Gaborik’s offensive instincts are at least top 15 in the league. I’m quite sure that every single team would love to add him to their forward corps, and yes, that includes the Bolts’ logjam up front. I don’t think Gaborik’s going to move, but seeing as how Risebrough had some difficulty signing Pierre-Marc Bouchard and losing Pavol Demitra, Gaborik’s friend, to free agency, I would not be surprised if Gaborik follows in the footsteps of Demitra. And of course, if he does, Vancouver will be a heavily rumoured destination. Risebrough will have to evaluate the situation and make a decision come February, at the trade deadline.
Mark Parrish is also another player drawing interest. The former first round pick was signed by the Wild to a very lucrative offer, but has seen his play steadily declined until he was a healthy scratch on some nights. He was in late July and no teams have bit, effectively making him an UFA. A couple of destinations mentioned in the article include Vancouver, Edmonton, and Long Island, although I think the Islanders are out of the question. The Islanders stated that they did not re-sign their veterans because they were heading towards a full-on youth movement. Doug Weight was not a testament to that, but he does bring veteran savvy and should be a good mentor to the kids. However, I don’t think Garth Snow is interested in reclamation projects like Parrish. If he does sign Parrish I think it’s a mistake, because for the Islanders the future is in their pipeline, and they’d be wasting valuable time and money in the hopes of getting Parrish back to his scoring form. Vancouver and Edmonton are potential destinations, as both teams could use some offensive depth, but so can the Avalanche, who are still patiently awaiting Joe Sakic’s decision. So far only division rivals of the Wild have been rumoured to be interested in Parrish, but probably because these teams are the ones that have been able to take a good, long look at Parrish. These teams know what he can do, but taking a flyer on the winger is another matter.
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4 Responses to “Gaborik Draws Interest, Parrish Staying in Northwest?”
By Steve on Aug 4, 2008
I’m pretty sure since Eklund is the source that Doug Risebrough is NOT considering this trade. Why even bother with Eklund?
By Jason C on Aug 4, 2008
Sometimes, I wonder as well, but on slow news days it’s fun to just debunk whatever Eklund has to say.
By Joe Blow on Oct 8, 2008
eklund is a cheat and a fraud, he has no idea what he is talking about and thinks he is a hockey whiz, how many times has he been wrong? too many for me to keep count, stop using this loser as a reference, eklund can blow my joe
By Alex D. on Oct 20, 2008
Come to the penguins so they can win the cup!!!!!!!