Gaborik turns page on his Wild years

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: July 2, 2009 - 9:50 PM

One day after his Wild career ended, Marian Gaborik turned the page and focused on his new team, the New York Rangers.

"I've only experienced playing in the NHL for one team, and it was for nine years in Minnesota," Gaborik said. "I had a great time there. Obviously this is a big change and a big opportunity. Life brings a lot of changes, and this is one of them. It's starting to hit me now that I'm becoming a Ranger."

Gaborik said the Wild tendered him no offers under new GM Chuck Fletcher.

"It is what it is. I've moved on and now I'm a Ranger," Gaborik said. "I had a lot of great times. There are a lot of great memories. I have to thank the fans, from the coaching staff to all the players I played with. It was a great experience."

Gaborik signed a five-year, $37.5 million during his first crack at unrestricted free agency.

"It was kind of adrenaline pumping through my veins, so it was exciting," he said.

Burns selected

Wild defenseman Brent Burns was one of 16 defensemen chosen to participate in Canada's Olympics orientation camp August 24-27 in Calgary, Alberta.

Executive Director Steve Yzerman said last week that Burns was very much in the mix despite last year's injury-riddled season.

"I'm hopeful he gets off to a very good start [next season] -- his size, his speed, his offensive ability and his competitiveness make him a guy that's very intriguing for us," Yzerman said.

Harding's still here

The trade market for backup goalie Josh Harding might have dried up Wednesday.

The Edmonton Oilers signed Nikolai Khabibulin, Colorado signed Craig Anderson, St. Louis signed Ty Conklin and the Philadelphia Flyers signed Brian Bouchard.

Reportedly, Toronto is trying to sign Swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson.

Fletcher has said all along that there was no rush in trading Harding, a restricted free agent, and it now appears Fletcher might have to wait.

"That's fine with me," Harding said. "Obviously if something happened, I would have dealt with it. But as before, I'm proud to be a Minnesota Wild."

Recent Minnesota Wild stories

This face-off has an eerily familiar feel - July 2, 2009

This face-off has an eerily familiar feel - Dan Bylsma joked that he spent so much time with Todd Richards that he could practically recite everything the Wild coach has told his players over the season's first 12 games. More