BE PREPARED -- This is a loooooooooooooooong blog with a LOT of INFO to digest. Just your typical 2,606-word offseason update:
On Wednesday afternoon, I headed down to Xcel Energy Center to watch the first day of development camp. Not shockingly, the four guys who really stood out to me were Matt Dumba, Christian Folin, Kurtis Gabriel and Gustav Olofsson, but it was my first chance to see Alex Tuch, Louie Belpedio and others, and they clearly have talent. Defensemen Dylan Labbe and Carson Soucy also stood out and Adam Gilmour, the Boston College forward, had a real strong day. By the way, former Wild speedster Richard Park is a guest coach during camp.
Here's the article that ran in Wednesday's paper on Folin and Dumba and the internal battle they'll likely have in training camp to make the team. Camp commences Sept. 18 after the Sept. 12-16 prospect tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. I didn't mention Gabriel as a roster hopeful in the article just because he may start in the minors to get development. But no doubt he could see games next season.
"I'm not putting anything by this kid," assistant GM Brent Flahr said. "He's probably one of the most determined kids I've ever met. He knows he's probably going to go down and play, but he'll cause some havoc in exhibition games. He works so hard and he wants to get there. He's got things to learn. He knows that, but second half you never know."
Remember, if you want to see the 42 prospects and invitees in action, the Wild is having two scrimmages that are open to the public: Friday at 2 p.m. at Braemar Ice Arena in Edina and Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center.
Also Wednesday, I had a chance to chat with coach Mike Yeo about his staff, the team and the travel for the upcoming season. I also had a chance to talk for a while with General Manager Chuck Fletcher to get a roster update. Among the topics: An update on the five unsigned restricted free agents; Fletcher's desire to potentially extend the contracts of some of the team's youngsters who have expiring deals next summer; his desire to perhaps still add a defenseman, maybe through the trade market; The goalie situation.
Here's a synopsis:
1. If you didn't see the previous blog, Andrew Brunette will be an assistant coach with the Wild next season and will likely join Yeo and assistants Rick Wilson and Darryl Sydor on the bench. Together with the trainers, it'll be a tight squeeze! Bruno will again be in charge of the power play and the hope is that if he's on the bench and able to tinker things right there as opposed to the press box, it'll be a big help to a power play that finished 16th the past two seasons.