So, you know by now Marek Zidlicky signed a three-year, $12 million extension with a partial no-trade clause. I've received a lot of emails and tweets asking my opinion on the deal.

On the contract, it's obviously a lot of money, but he made $3.5 million and warranted some kind of raise after scoring 10 power-play goals last season and being six points from last season's 42-point total. Now, I don't know what the Wild was being offered for Zidlicky, so I can't weigh what that asset return would have been in comparison to Zidlicky as a player coupled with the lucrative price he's getting. But if you read my blogs back in early February, it was starting to become more evident that Zidlicky was the guy to keep if you had to choose between Zidlicky and Kim Johnsson. Plus, Johnsson did not seem to want to commit here until after the season. Fletcher wasn't willing to risk losing either for nothing. As you know, I appreciated Johnsson's game. He's one of the most mobile defensemen in the league. But the difference between Zidlicky and Johnsson is Zidlicky gets points. Even in this much more offensive system, Johnsson had eight assists compared to Zidlicky's current team-record (for a dman) 31. Zidlicky also competes his guts out. I see stuff all the time from fans calling him lazy. Maybe it's because of the times he doesn't move his feet and takes stick infraction penalties, but from a compete point of view, this guy competes and can play big minutes. I just feel it's not easy to find quality power-play point men with big shots that can also play big minutes. And as we saw earlier this season when Zidlicky was the Wild's only prototypical power-play point man with a bunch of defensive defensemen playing the other power-play point positions, the power play was painful. So I think this was a signing that had to happen. As for the price, this was the price folks. It might be a lot of money, yes, but this is the going rate for a sharp-shooting offensive defenseman. And frankly, I think he could have gotten more on the open market. Anybody notice Ryan Jones is on waivers, by the way? Coincidentally, he was the Wild prospect traded to Nashville originally for Zidlicky. So maybe the Wild claims Jones and wins the Zidlicky deal in a slam dunk. OK, on to Owen Nolan. There was a point today, and the last few days actually, where I was convinced he'd be traded. Teams have shown interest. But as of now, unless there's a too-good-to-pass-up-offer, I think he's staying. Here's the deal from the best that I can decifer: Out of courtesy for Nolan and what he's accomplished in his career and how he's playing this season, Chuck Fletcher met with Nolan on Monday to ask if he'd want to be traded to a contender. The Wild wants to keep him, but Nolan's never won a Stanley Cup. It sounds like Nolan actually told the Wild he wants to try to help the Wild make what appears to be an insurmountable climb up this playoff hill. "He's a loyal guy," said Fletcher, but refusing to divulge the full extent of their conversation. So right now I think he's staying. I know teams have kicked tires on Eric Belanger, and I think the Wild would be willing to move him. The Clayton Stoner signing probably signals the eventual end of the line in Minnesota for John Scott, which would probably mean the eventual re-signing of Derek Boogaard because Todd Richards always wants to employ that "element." Right now the Wild's defensemen next year are Zidlicky, Brent Burns, Greg Zanon, Nick Schultz, Cam Barker and Clayton Stoner. Stoner takes the sixth-seventh spot from Scott, and the Wild will likely sign one defensemen this summer (unless it trades for one Wednesday). Check out the Zidlicky, trade deadline story in Wednesday's paper because I do ask Fletcher about Josh Harding and he makes clear it's an issue that needs to be resolved at some point. He wouldn't say though if that day is Wednesday or this summer. Philadelphia needs a goalie suddenly. Stoner got an interesting contract. I got some emails saying I had to screw this up, but I've again confirmed it: It's a one-way contract the first year and a two-way the second year, not flipped. Essentially, it's a big orange carrot for Stoner. Prove once and for all next season that you're a No. 6 or 7 defenseman and one that stay healthy. Health has hampered him his entire pro career. Stoner's been a good soldier for the organization and he's well-liked. If he's good, he's a cheap player for two years at 525K and 575K. If it doesn't work out, he goes to the minors the second year at 105K and maybe by that time Marco Scandella and/or Tyler Cuma is ready, or maybe another play that goes by him. Basically the risk is minimal. Lastly, the Wild's committed cap space for next season is $45,424,443 for 15 players. The cap's expected to remain near $56.8, so that's not a lot of space left, especially when Guillaume Latendresse will be due a big raise and the Wild, if they're not traded by then, plans to qualify James Sheppard and Harding to retain their rights. "I don't think you ever want to go into the market having to sign six or seven players," Fletcher said. "It's difficult to build a team that way. In theory we have some cap space available. But we have solid defensemen, two goalies, lots of quality forwards. We have the ability to add in certain places. But if you look at the group of free-agent players out there, I'm not sure this is the year you want to be going into the market looking to add several pieces to your team anyway." Lastly, Latendresse is a restricted free agent and the Wild hasn't put a lot of effort yet into extending his contract. Fletcher said there's only so many things he could handle on his plate at one time between Zidlicky, Johnsson, all the trade calls and Cal Clutterbuck. He said the Clutterbuck thing just came together quickly for a certain reason, which makes me think that teams started to show interest in Clutterbuck and the Wild wanted to make sure it could be re-sign him before just simply saying no and then regretting it this summer if he played hardball. Fletcher said there's no rush with Latendresse. OK, that's it for now. May do a webcam in a few minutes.