You should have heard the electricity inside Nationwide Arena during a first-period TV timeout Saturday night when Blue Jackets owner John P. McConnell said to the fans, "We've been waiting to say this to you for a long time: 'Welcome to the Stanley Cup playoffs.'"

The spine-tingling moment was like a dagger to the Wild's heart -- the bench visibly sunk as players realized that this morning at Xcel Energy Center, the ice will be smashed apart rather than practiced on.

Jacques Lemaire, after a news conference to officially say goodbye, will pack his office. Marian Gaborik might walk out of the home locker room for a final time.

Stalls will be emptied, old skates thrown out.

It's a shame because there's nothing like playoff hockey. But unfortunately, the 2008-09 season offered no magic until it was way too late.

In a touch of irony, the Wild, unable to string enough victories together all season to put itself comfortably on top of the playoff bubble, bookended the year with its only three-game regulation winning streaks.

It'll be an offseason of 'if onlys' now.

• If only Gaborik didn't miss 65 games or Brent Burns 23. If only the Wild could have beaten lowly Los Angeles just once. If only the Wild held on to that 3-0 lead to Ottawa. If only the team won a couple of those nine overtime or shootout losses. If only it didn't blow that game in Detroit.

• If only Marian Hossa or Kristian Huselius had signed or Brian Rolston was talked to earlier or Gaborik was traded last summer.

• If only the Wild had played all season the way it played in its final three victories -- with fire, heart and creativity.

"It's going to be a long, long summer," goalie Niklas Backstrom said.

The Wild was hindered by injuries, but Backstrom said that's an unworthy excuse.

"We should have found a way to get in with the guys we had," Backstrom said. "Look at St. Louis, even Columbus. All these teams, they got guys injured and they're in the playoffs."

Gaborik free agency looks likely

The Wild will look different next season, and it's not only because Stephane Veilleux, Martin Skoula, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Kurtis Foster could be gone.

No Lemaire, and very possibly, no Gaborik.

Overshadowed by Lemaire's departure after the season finale, Gaborik sounded as if he plans to test free agency no matter how lucrative the Wild's final contract offer might be.

"To hear from 29 other teams could be kind of cool," Gaborik said.

What will the Wild look like without Gaborik? Get a copy of the majority of the 65 games played without him this season.

Scrutinize Gaborik's game if you wish. But without the Wild's lone game-breaker, who scored 10 goals and 18 points in 11 games since returning from hip surgery, it was a chore for the Wild to score every grueling night. As Lemaire said, the Wild had trouble finding one scoring line, let alone two.

It won't be easy to replace Gaborik. First, other than Hossa, who's not coming here without No. 10, there's nobody of Gaborik's ilk in free agency.

Chicago's Martin Havlat will be a free agent, but he's injury prone. Montreal's Alex Kovalev will be free, but he's 36. Vancouver's Sedin Twins will be free, but they're a package deal. Mike Cammalleri scored 39 goals and 82 points for Calgary, so that'll create a bidding war that could make him overpriced.

Other interesting names include Montreal's Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay, Carolina's Erik Cole, the Rangers' Nik Antropov and New Jersey's Brian Gionta. Nice players. Not Gaboriks.

The Wild's salary cap hit already is $42.5 million for only 15 players next season. That might seem like a lot of room if the $56.7 million salary cap stays stagnant. But like all teams, the Wild will have to be leery of handing out exorbitant long-term deals when it's so uncertain how dramatically the salary cap could drop after next season.

The Wild still must find a finisher or two, no matter how many ways Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough says it's unnecessary.

Risebrough said last week that if he can't re-sign Gaborik, it doesn't take a lot more goals to get the Wild into the playoffs.

Risebrough's right.

But at some point, you have to do your players a favor and make games easier by supplying help. At some point, creating excitement is something the fans crave, too. You can't just keep saying, "Wait a couple years. Wait a couple years."

Fans are funny. They want to win now. The goal should be winning the Stanley Cup, not eking into the playoffs.

Trading could help add offense

If this indeed is the end of Gaborik's Minnesota run, one way to add offense could be via trade. Because of the erratic economy, trades might make more sense than free agency because you're acquiring short-term contracts rather than overpaying for long-term ones.

However, Risebrough has been adamant he's not trading 20-year-old center James Sheppard.

OK, that's fine. Risebrough sees bells and whistles there, and Sheppard has talent and might emerge once he figures out how -- and where to go -- to score.

But despite signing Backstrom to a four-year, $24 million extension, Risebrough says he's not trading 24-year-old backup goalie Josh Harding.

Harding could be quite the asset at the draft, yet Risebrough said he doesn't want to trade Harding because he's received so much interest, it shows "I'm right about him." Risebrough has repeated that mantra regarding Sheppard and others.

That's a mystifying philosophy. Teams aren't going to call about your stiffs. They're going to call about your assets, and part of the job of a GM is to parlay assets into a more cohesive unit.

Because Risebrough does most of his dealing at the draft, it's the perfect time to at least gauge the Harding landscape.

In addition to Harding, Risebrough might want to try shopping Marek Zidlicky. He set a Wild record for defensemen by scoring 10 power-play goals, but he gave up many more goals with reckless play. With one year left on his contract at $3.5 million, maybe Zidlicky can be turned into a forward.

Mistakes were made

The Wild made some mistakes this season.

Risebrough has traded a lot of draft picks, which is why the minor-league system is so unfurnished (although its drafts from 2006-08 are looking good). And few teams allow more free agents to walk for nothing (Brian Rolston, Pavol Demitra, Andrew Brunette, Todd White and now maybe Gaborik, Veilleux, Skoula and Bergeron).

This stuff adds up. Teams reload by trading free agents, even for draft picks. It's like letting a $100 gift certificate to your favorite restaurant expire.

That five-year, $20.4 million contract with a verbal two-year no-trade clause to Pierre-Marc Bouchard could be a noose around the Wild's neck.

Benoit Pouliot, 22, never deserved a job, and the Wild finally sent the fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft to the minors.

"When they drop like that, they have to go back to the minors," Lemaire said.

But all is not bad.

Mikko Koivu is a cornerstone player. If Burns' concussion issues dissipate, he has the talent to rediscover that dominant all-around defenseman he was before the Wild's first-half forward experiment. NHL hits leader Cal Clutterbuck was a rookie revelation.

Owen Nolan, 37, and Andrew Brunette, 35, the two leading goal scorers (47 combined goals), will be back.

Kim Johnsson, other than a faulty December, had a strong season.

"You could put two together. It wouldn't be as good as this year," Lemaire said.

The Wild mistakenly hung its hat on Sheppard, expecting him to develop into Koivu in only his second season. That was unfair, and a gaffe (two "must-win" months without a goal), but hopefully he will mature and learn from this year.

Colton Gillies, 20, shouldn't have been in the NHL, but Lemaire said Wild fans will grow to love the rookie.

"He'll be a very fine player in the league," Lemaire said. "I'm sure of that because he's so determined and doesn't look to take the easy way. In practices, he pushes all the time. You ask him to come a little earlier to practice his shot, he's going to do it for a month, not for a day."

Lemaire said he believes the Wild has a bright future because of the "foundation set."

But it was time that the franchise moves on without him.

"I know where this team could go," Lemaire said. "So I'm curious, but not that curious. Know what I'm saying?"