Michael Russo's Sunday Insider: Say so long to Gaborik

Dilip Vishwanat, Getty Images

When Marian Gaborik is on his game and healthy — as he was last February (above) — he is among the elite players in the league. But staying healthy has been a huge problem.

The sad truth is that injuries have crippled his present, and his future is best played out in another NHL city.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: January 3, 2009 - 11:38 PM

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Maybe we're getting soft in our old age, but let's discount for one second the amount of money the Wild's Marian Gaborik left on the table.

Let's discount for one second how the latest revelation that Gaborik will have hip surgery devastates a thin franchise that could benefit from parlaying him into two or three pieces for the future.

You've got to feel just a little bad for Gaborik, the human being.

This is an extraordinary player whose career is being derailed by chronic leg and abdominal problems, and it's not because of neglect. It's not like Gaborik loafs during the summers, comes to training camp, and whoops, see you in a few months.

The man is in impeccable shape. His legs look like Big Brown's. He should be a perennial 50-goal scorer. He's that special, that electrifying.

Look at the evidence: Since 2005-06, Gaborik has scored .576 goals per game, right behind superstars Alex Ovechkin, Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk.

The problem is, while those three players have played more than 270 games during that span, Gaborik's played 196. Sadly, Gaborik cannot stay healthy (87 games missed since the lockout), and that's a shame.

It's not an identical analogy because Pavel Bure could score a million different ways. The Russian Rocket scored 60 goals twice, and in Florida, Bure registered 58- and 59-goal seasons from 1999-2001.

But Bure and Gaborik are the two most spine-tingling players I've covered. Unfortunately, Bure likely will never make the Hall of Fame because knee injuries shortened his career to 702 games.

That's such a waste, and the same can be said for Gaborik.

Gaborik, 26, should be regarded as one of the sport's most exhilarating players. There's nobody faster. When Gaborik hits his full stride, when the wind causes the back of his sweater to fluff up like a sail, it's a sight to see. You should have heard the gasps from the Atlanta crowd during last January's All-Star skills competition when Gaborik turned on the jets.

But they gasped because they didn't know. It was like, "Who the heck's that?"

Hopefully, Gaborik will some day find the magic potion and figure out the cure to all these injuries.

With that said, it shouldn't be in Minnesota. Actually, to be more blunt, it cannot be in Minnesota. It's time for these two factions to part ways.

Since the seriousness of Gaborik's latest injury was revealed, there has been a growing sentiment that maybe Gaborik should sign a one- or two-year deal with the Wild, re- habilitate his reputation as an elite player so he can get his big payday and in return, re- establish a market that would allow the Wild to get something substantial for him.

Makes sense on some levels. Makes zero sense on so many others.

Enough is enough, folks. Gaborik provided wonderful memories over the years, he has scored a lot of beautiful goals, a lot of clutch goals.

But his injuries are debilitating to him and the club. It's a constant distraction and it wreaks havoc on the lineup.

The only thing signing a short-term deal would accomplish is lots more articles about contract talks, trade rumors and "lower body" occurrences.

If you're a Wild fan, it's time to move on, wish Gaborik good luck and be thankful he did your team a favor by rejecting contracts worth around $8 million annually.

Now, that would have been truly catastrophic.

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