On Gaborik, Thrashers GM knows the feeling

Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune

Contract talks between the Wild and star right winger Marian Gaborik have broken off, and it’s believed that General Manager Doug Risebrough already might be shopping Gaborik around.

Don Waddell had to trade Thrashers star Marian Hossa. So he knows what effect the Marian Gaborik negotiations could have on Minnesota.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: October 15, 2008 - 9:36 AM

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ATLANTA - With the Marian Gaborik situation looking more and more like "Marian Hossa, the Sequel," Atlanta Thrashers General Manager Don Waddell talked Tuesday night about what he had to deal with throughout last season before being forced to trade the former 100-point scorer because of a contract dispute.

"I've got to tell you, it was a long year," Waddell said. "We did everything we could. You know it's hard to trade a star."

But after being unable to sign Hossa to a contract extension -- a season-long distraction that was blamed for derailing Atlanta's season ---- Waddell traded him to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Pascal Dupuis for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a first-round pick at the trade deadline.

Similarly, the Wild is trying to extend Gaborik's contract. If it's unable to -- and negotiations have stalled -- the Wild probably will have to trade him.

It's believed GM Doug Risebrough already has begun the shopping.

"It's hard for me to speak for the Wild, but I can just tell you from our experience, you're dealing with one of your best players, the goal is to keep him, to show your team, to show your fans that you're trying to do everything you can, and sometimes it's not in your control," Waddell said.

"I don't want to speak for [Risebrough]. But in our case, we felt [Hossa] was too big of an asset. We could turn him into many assets, and [we couldn't afford] to let that opportunity pass. If we couldn't sign him until the trade deadline, what made us think we could sign him after the trade deadline?"

Waddell said he never wanted it to last until the Feb. 26 deadline, but it's a dilemma Risebrough also might face.

"This league doesn't deal with things on an urgent matter until it gets to be a deadline time," Waddell said. "If I would have taken the deal I got offered the week before, it would have been a lot less than the trade deadline. It gets to be a bidding war. As much as I wanted to deal with it a few days before, our deal got done at five to three."

Waddell said he would have even made the trade if the Thrashers were a playoff contender.

"When we knew what the value of the player was, we needed to trade him to continue our franchise moving forward," Waddell said.

Waddell said it was especially a distraction when the Thrashers went into big media markets such as Toronto and Montreal. Similarly, the Wild plays in the Northwest and will have to often deal with the Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton media.

"What you have to do is set your time knowing that you have to deal with it," Waddell said. "You can't not deal with it. If you don't deal with it, it just makes it harder for you. So you go into cities, pick a time, deal with the media, boom. We're done with it."

While playing last season in Minnesota, New York Rangers left wing Aaron Voros became tight with Gaborik. They speak to or text each other often.

Reached in Manhattan on Tuesday, Voros was asked what he thinks will happen with Gaborik.

"I don't want to say what I really think because I don't want to ruffle any feathers, but he's going to do what's best for his career," Voros said. "One thing I've noticed, players get a bad rap all the time when they do what's best for themselves, but every day of the year, teams do what's best for them, whether it's buying somebody out or getting rid of a bad contract, and they never seem to catch any flak. Gaby will do what's best for him"