Marian Gaborik: Going ... going ...

From afar, nobody envies the Wild's precarious position with Marian Gaborik.

Back in the fall, when contract negotiations stalled on an extension to keep Gaborik from becoming a free agent next summer, the Wild began actively shopping him.

Then, Oct. 15 ... BankAtlantic Center ... Sunrise, Fla.: Jacques Lemaire gave four players the day off, and Gaborik took part in an ill-fated game of soccer hackysack, where the players volley a soccer ball with their feet over a barricade like a tennis match.

To the public at least, he hasn't been seen or heard from since, and the Wild's plans to either sign or trade him have been derailed. Gaborik missed his 24th consecutive game Saturday at Nashville because of what the team has called a "lower body" injury. He is skating on his own, but there is no intimation of a return date.

This contract ordeal has been watched closely by the entire NHL, and over the past month the Star Tribune has talked to nearly a dozen current and former league executives. Many refused to be quoted or asked for anonymity, but they all had an opinion -- from "Gaborik should re-sign" for a fair deal to "the Wild waited too long."

"Unfortunately, it's as difficult and challenging a situation that you can be in," said Doug MacLean, the former Columbus Blue Jackets general manager.

That's in part because it's hard to see an end game that has Gaborik re-signing, yet the team's ability to trade him has been halted by this injury. It's a worst-case scenario for the Wild.

"You've got the [March 4 trade] deadline," MacLean said. "That's the sad part of this whole scenario. They had an amazing asset that's diminished."

Lines have been drawn

Not only does Gaborik's injury hinder the Wild's ability to trade him, it probably means he won't be knocking down a gargantuan contract next summer -- unless he returns to play, stays healthy and proves his worth all over again.

It doesn't appear his injury has softened Gaborik's hard-nosed stance about a new contract. Gaborik declined to comment for this story, but the Wild and Gaborik's agent, Ron Salcer, haven't talked since September.

"For anything good to happen for anybody, Marian has to be back on the ice playing and playing at a high level," said Salcer, who met with Gaborik in Minneapolis on Thursday and Friday. "That's in our best interest and the Wild's best interest, so we're on the same page there."

Wild GM Doug Risebrough declined to comment and gets visibly irritated whenever anybody asks about Gaborik.

Would the Wild commit long-term dollars to Gaborik any more? It seems unlikely for a couple of reasons.

For one, when the Wild offered Gaborik the longest, richest contract in franchise history (for as much as $8 million per season), it was assumed his past abdominal and leg problems were behind him. After all, Gaborik, the franchise record-holder in every offensive category, missed only five games last season, and he scored a career-high 42 goals and 83 points.

Additionally, in today's economic climate, where there appears a great chance the $56.7 million salary cap will decrease, signing an injury-prone player to a rich, long-term contract could become a catastrophic mistake. The Wild already has $38 million committed to 15 players next season, and goalie Niklas Backstrom is a pending free agent.

MacLean calls Gaborik a top-five NHL player, after Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Because of the pickle his injury has put the Wild in, MacLean said, "Gaborik should re-sign with them in a fair deal."

"Doug Risebrough does not deserve to be held up in this situation," MacLean said. "They owe something to Minnesota. Doug Risebrough has been unbelievably fair with this kid contractwise since Day 1. He's dealt with holdouts, he's had to go to Europe, every contract's been a challenge and they've treated him very, very fair."

But if signing Gaborik is out of the cards, MacLean said the Wild needs to pray he comes back healthy so the market re-establishes itself.

"There's not a GM in the league that doesn't think this guy's an unbelievable talent, but what price can you pay right now? That's the challenge," MacLean said.

Creating a Gaborik market

Rick Dudley, an assistant GM with the Chicago Blackhawks who used to be GM with Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Florida, wouldn't talk about Gaborik specifically.

Generally, however, Dudley said it's important to "create a frenzy and get competing interests vying for the same asset" when trying to trade a player of Gaborik's ability.

That's not always easy to do, especially if the player's hurt. But as soon as he is healthy, Risebrough has to move quickly because the Wild can't afford to lose an asset as valuable as Gaborik for no return.

Dudley's point is Risebrough should talk to all 29 teams and judge interest. If he finds a certain team wants Gaborik and that team discovered its archrival also wanted Gaborik, that team might want Gaborik a whole lot more. That's what happened last year when Atlanta traded Marian Hossa to Pittsburgh for a large package of assets.

When Dudley managed the Lightning, he said he nearly had to trade Vincent Lecavalier when he demanded to be traded and coach John Tortorella demanded Lecavalier be traded.

"So I went about the business of talking to all 29 teams, and we had a considerable frenzy created," Dudley said. "But it was a lot of work. It's something not a lot of GMs want to do because it does wear you out. It wore me out trying to play one against the other -- to go to one, and go to the other, and say, 'It's not quite good enough, you're going to have to come back with something else.'"

MacLean said: "The buzz is already out there for Marian Gaborik, but the frenzy can't be created right now. ... I've got to believe there's a great market for Marian Gaborik. If he comes back and plays 20 games, they have a valuable asset again. He's that good."

Some believe the Wild erred in August after Risebrough and assistant GM Tom Lynn traveled to Slovakia to meet with Gaborik. Because of his propensity for getting injured, it was argued by more than one league source, the Wild never should have risked letting this negotiation drag into the season.

One NHL executive, who requested anonymity because of league tampering rules, said: "There's been some simmering going on here the last two or three years. I mean, this didn't all of a sudden just come up. When their concrete, initial offer was made, I know 100 percent that it was not a lowball offer. It was absolutely fair.

"At that point, if there was any hemming and hawing from the agent, then I would have pulled the trigger immediately. Yeah, it could come back to haunt you, but maybe not, too. It's a tough call to make with a franchise player, but they waited too long. ... Because of his chronic injuries, the second [Salcer] started playing games, they should have moved [Gaborik] immediately."

Asked if he now wishes he took the Wild's initial lucrative offer, Salcer said: "I don't ever believe at looking back. I think the decision we made at the time was made on everything we knew, and we have no regrets about anything.

"Marian's going to get back. He's played pretty unbelievable for the first seven years of his career. He's just 26 and hasn't even come into his prime yet. His best years are ahead of him. We just have to get over this obstacle or hurdle, and he will, and he'll play at the level everyone expects and way better."