Centers are on watch for a team seeking depth

Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

Former No. 1 pick Benoit Pouliot is one of the Wild’s best options for depth at center.

Mikko Koivu is no longer a wild card. James Sheppard and Eric Belanger have promise. But at No. 4 center, the Wild says it's time for two youngsters to make their case.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: September 22, 2008 - 1:46 AM

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The Wild tried to trade for Olli Jokinen and sign Brendan Morrison.

But after the Wild missed on both, few centers were available, meaning yet again that the Wild begins training camp with a lean center corps.

Last September, Dominic Moore monopolized training camp coverage. He auditioned for a spot between Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra. He wound up getting three points in 30 games and was dumped via waivers.

This season, what happens if Mikko Koivu, the horse of a center who's packed on 13 more pounds of muscle, gets injured? James Sheppard's future is bright, but he's 20. Eric Belanger scored once in last season's final 30 games.

After Morrison chose Anaheim, General Manager Doug Risebrough decided against signing a veteran plug-in. Instead, he felt it was time to "dangle a carrot" in front of 2005 fourth overall pick Benoit Pouliot, who turns 22 on Sept. 29, and 2004 third-round pick Peter Olvecky, who turns 23 on Oct. 11, for the fourth center spot.

Asked if he thinks the Wild is thin up the middle, Risebrough said: "Yeah, I do, but when I compare us to everybody else, I don't think we're thin. Yeah, we could be weak if we lose Koivu, but so would Colorado if they lost [Joe] Sakic, and how would Calgary look if they lost [Daymond] Langkow?

"But I do know, too, at the start of two seasons ago nobody knew what Koivu would become. We were hopeful. Two years later, he's at the top of the pile and everybody's touting him as one of the top young centers in the league.

"Now, I don't know if that isn't Sheppard and I don't know if that isn't Pouliot and I don't even know if that isn't Olvecky. And if somehow these guys catch fire, what are people going to say about our center position? You know what they're going to say? Those guys are set for years."

The biggest caveat is the fourth spot. Pouliot and Olvecky are the leading contenders. "Will it work? I don't know, but I know I'll never know unless I give them a chance," Risebrough said.

Risebrough all but anointed Pouliot this summer, but Olvecky's name is coming up more.

Before Marian Gaborik was sidelined by a strained quadriceps, coach Jacques Lemaire planned to play Pouliot and Olvecky in camp with Gaborik to give the youngsters the best chance to strut their stuff.

"I want either one of them to mature as a player," Lemaire said. "They haven't yet. I want them to. They're getting older."

Said Pouliot: "I think I'm very ready."

Said assistant GM Tommy Thompson: "If Benoit Pouliot plays like he's capable of playing, he will be noticed."

Slow to develop in the minors, Olvecky scored 43 goals and 140 points in three years in Houston.

"With the length of time he's been here, his age, he's got to be noticed. He's got to force his way on the hockey team," Thompson said.

"He's capable of doing more things than most of our guys, but he's got to show us."

Olvecky, a Slovak who trains with Gaborik during the summer, is motivated to get out of Houston. Plus, he has pressure from his girlfriend. She moved to the Twin Cities from Slovakia to go to Carlson School of Management.

"I got my apartment already, so I have to be here," joked Olvecky, who played mostly wing last year in Houston. "I want to be here. ... I think I'm ready."

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