The Wild has invited versatile forward Andy Hilbert, who scored a career-high 11 goals and 27 points last season with the Islanders, to camp on a tryout.
Hilbert, 28, a former All-America at Michigan, has scored 104 points in 303 NHL games over parts of seven seasons with Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago and the Islanders.
Hilbert is considered a gritty, intelligent player. His chief competition for a roster spot will be Colton Gillies, Benoit Pouliot, Craig Weller and Derek Boogaard.
"It'll create competition in camp and keep some guys on the edge," assistant GM Brent Flahr said. "Hopefully he'll challenge for a spot, which is always a positive thing."
Sykora signing unlikely It's looking more and more like the Wild won't be signing free agent Petr Sykora.
The team made offers this week, believed to be in the $1 million range, but Sykora, 32, has an offer in Russia worth about $3 million and was willing to sacrifice only so much money.
Prospects to camp The Wild, which finished second in the eight-team prospects tournament in Traverse City, Mich., promoted 12 players, bringing the training camp roster to 55. "It was the best tournament of the eight," assistant GM Tommy Thompson said. "If you're a finesse player who can't play up-tempo in today's game, you're cooked."
Etc. • During Friday's media luncheon, coach Todd Richards described what he means by an up-tempo system. "Aggressive is what we'll be teaching here and that's the way our team will play," he said. "We're aren't going to sit back, we aren't going to retreat into our zone."
