Wild tells Gaborik: This is the place to be

Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune

Marian Gaborik

General Manager Doug Risebrough and assistant GM Tom Lynn met with the star forward in Slovakia.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: August 16, 2008 - 11:13 PM

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Marian Gaborik doesn't need to play in another city to be among the top scorers in the NHL.

That was the message Wild management delivered to Gaborik during a four-hour dinner meeting last week in Trencin, Slovakia -- the first step in a journey the Wild hopes ends in a long-term extension to Gaborik's contract before next season.

With Gaborik, 26, less than 11 months from becoming an unrestricted free agent, General Manager Doug Risebrough and assistant GM Tom Lynn met with Gaborik on Monday. The two wanted to convince Gaborik, the Wild's all-time leading scorer with 206 goals and 414 points, that Minnesota is the place to be.

Gaborik could not be reached to comment, but Lynn called it a "great dinner and meeting."

"We showed him a lot more info than any player has ever seen before -- how we scout, how we measure players statistically," Lynn said. "We also listened to his opinions.

"We just talked about the team, how we operate and where we are going, and then his performance and place in the future. So I would say it was a good meeting in that (a) it happened, and (b) Marian had good input, observations and understanding."

One objective for Risebrough and Lynn was to prove to Gaborik he's not being impeded from scoring in Minnesota's defensive-minded system.

Lynn considers it a myth, one Gaborik seemed to believe when, at last season's All-Star Game, he said, "Sometimes you think how it could be in an Eastern system, in a more offensive system. There's more offense there for sure."

But at last week's dinner, Risebrough and Lynn showed Gaborik that, since the lockout, he's fourth in the NHL in goals per game (behind Alex Ovechin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley), first in even-strength goals per minute played and tied for second in goals per 60 minutes played (behind Ovechkin).

"He seemed surprised, pleasantly, to learn he is among the top scorers in the league right now and doesn't need to go anywhere else to do that," Lynn said. "So only his groins have kept him from being right there, which would not change with another team."

While injuries have undoubtedly played a part in Gaborik's scoring -- he has missed 56 games in the three years since the lockout -- ice time has also been a factor. Last season he was 43rd in the NHL in average ice time with 19 minutes, 35 seconds a game, and was fourth on the Wild. In 2005-06 -- the season after the lockout -- Gaborik ranked 79th among forwards in ice time with 18:25 a game.

Lynn said the Wild didn't talk contract with Gaborik but would do so soon with his agent.