Wild GM looks back and ahead

With his plate overflowing, it'd be easy for Doug Risebrough to feel weighed down.

Think about the Wild general manager's offseason to-do list:

• Deal with 10 unrestricted free agents, the most significant being Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra.

• Encourage Jacques Lemaire to continue coaching.

• Gauge Marian Gaborik's willingness to sign a long-term extension.

• Decide what to do with Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who is one year from becoming an unrestricted free agent.

• Fill the inevitable holes with quality free agents.

Is Risebrough overwhelmed?

"No, because I could have done something about this," Risebrough said Monday after holding exit meetings with the players. "It's my choice, and the advantage is flexibility. ... It was set up this way. Now, do I think it's going to be a lot of work? Yeah."

With the Wild in the midst of self-analysis after a second consecutive first-round playoff exit, Risebrough said the Wild's future remains bright despite the cloudiest offseason in franchise history.

GM laments 'poor decisions'

Risebrough's first objective is to satisfy Lemaire. The only head coach the Wild has ever known, Lemaire said he would decide by the June draft whether to remain as coach. Lemaire admits he was the most frustrated he has been with any of his teams during the regular season, one that ended with the Northwest Division title.

"I think some of those frustrations were poor management decisions," said Risebrough, who expects Lemaire to return. "I'm always a guy that believes players have to earn their contracts. So I don't have any problem with players playing in the last year of their contracts.

"I might have had too many guys playing in their unrestricted years this year. That led to potentially more guys playing outside of the team. That was my mistake, and that became Jacques' problem."

While Risebrough said the 2005-implemented salary cap "prevents you from doing everything," he sounded as if the plan is to make a bona fide attempt at retaining Rolston, who followed a third consecutive 30-goal season with a strong first round.

"I remember when we were trying to get legitimacy here," Risebrough said. "We were just an expansion team that was working hard, and we were getting the same types of players. Then Rolston wanted to come here. That seemed to change a lot of people's opinion of Minnesota. This has a bearing on how I'll deal with Roli."

Asked to comment on Demitra, Risebrough said, "No," which might speak volumes.

Rolston said, "I certainly want to be here in Minnesota. ... Our door's always open."

Underpaid at $2.432 million the past three years, Rolston, 35, knows this could be his last contract and wants a significant pay bump. He's one of the top free agents available this summer. Four teams who have loads of cap room are the New York Rangers and Islanders, Montreal and Columbus.

"I want to be on a team that I feel can win," Rolston said. "That's very important to me going into free agency. I think the Wild are in it to win it every year, and that means a lot."

Gaborik evasive on new deal

Gaborik, 26, coming off a 42-goal, 83-point regular season and zero-goal postseason, likely will receive an extension offer this summer to prevent him from playing out the last year of his contract.

He was asked repeatedly Monday if he wanted to sign a long-term deal this summer, and each time he gave answers like, "I haven't thought about that. It's still early after the season. We'll see how everything goes."

With so much uncertainty this offseason, Gaborik probably wants to see what direction the team takes before committing the prime of his career to the Wild. He said what happens with Demitra won't have a bearing on his situation. "I mean, I'm not going to go wherever he goes," Gaborik said.

Gaborik did say he wouldn't want to play in the final year of his contract after seeing the Atlanta Thrashers' season ruined by constant talk of Marian Hossa's contract status before he was traded to Pittsburgh.

"I don't think it would be good for [either] side to be in that situation," Gaborik said. "That situation was a distraction for everybody there."

To avoid a Hossa-like situation, if the Wild gets the impression this summer that Gaborik won't commit long-term, it could decide to trade him.

"It's a very good time for a very good conversation with Gabby," Risebrough said. "Obviously, that discussion is about what does he want to do in the future and what do we want to do in the future, which gets down to contract discussion. But it's even more than that. ... You want to make sure everybody's comfortable with where everybody's going."

Gaborik's postseason performance did not change Risebrough's opinion of him. "Did he try? He tried like hell," Risebrough said. "Did he sometimes over-try? Yeah, he did. But that's because he's the best player, he's trying to contribute. ... He's a streak scorer. But he also scored 42 goals being a streak scorer."

Of his unrestricted free agents, Risebrough didn't want to talk specifically. Todd Fedoruk hopes he's in the team's plans, saying, "I'd like to come back and finish the job."

Benoit Pouliot and Colton Gillies, first-round draft picks in 2005 and 2007, respectively, have a chance to make next season's squad, while the Wild also will look at free agency. But don't expect any star additions.

"How am I going to pay them?" said Risebrough, referring to salary cap restraints. "There will be improvements, but it's not necessarily going to be earth-shattering."