Wild's Risebrough mixes ages on roster

Doug Risebrough, the president and general manager of the Wild, said the organization's goal before the season was to assemble a younger roster, yet still have the potential to make the playoffs.

"I realized that the team had to get younger, so we're inserting younger guys into the lineup and they're having significant roles and gaining experience," Risebrough said. "And it's helping us compete now, and that's good. I know it's going to be a lot better when they gain experience in a couple of years."

Risebrough said 21-year-old right winger Cal Clutterbuck has added great value. Center James Sheppard is 20.

"So, if you project what Sheppard is going to do in three years, at 23, [with] what Cal Clutterbuck is doing now, I'm pretty excited about that," Risebrough said. "I think [left winger Colton] Gillies, he's a project, there's no doubt about it, this is an in-and-out year for him, learning the life, but he's come in and been able to play. I know his confidence isn't that high, but that's just because he's [20] years old, and he's trying to do it that way.

"We feel we're still young with [defenseman Brent] Burns [23 years old] we're still young with [right winger] Pierre-Marc Bouchard [24], we're still young with [center Mikko] Koivu [25], and fortunately we found the right mix with some of the veterans like [left winger Andrew] Brunette [35] and specifically [right winger Owen] Nolan [37]. There is no doubt that those ... veterans can kind of take the edge off a game, especially with the younger guys in the lineup. They're a little more uptight at times and when Nolan comes out and plays the way he does, it takes a little pressure off the younger guys."

Risebrough said Nolan has another year remaining on his two-year, $5.5 million contract.

"We ended up pulling him out of Calgary. He was a good player for them," Risebrough said. "He was a little bit older ... but he's been able to come in and add value. He hasn't been able to play all the games, he's had some injuries, but he's a warrior. He plays when he can, even if he's only 80 percent."

"As far as I'm concerned, in terms of the talent on the team, we won our division," he said. "It was close, but we won the division. So it was a great statement for the team.

"But we didn't advance in the playoffs, and every year, if you keep investing in those types of players [such as Nolan], they get older, and all of a sudden you'll find out that you're not contending. And guys have longer-term contracts.

"We just decided that was the best thing, because we had a good experience with injecting young guys in there, and they emerge all of a sudden. I know it sometimes doesn't look like that one night. You might say it didn't look like that [against] Ottawa [a 5-3 loss on Feb. 14, after taking a 3-0 lead], but it sure looked like that against Detroit [a 5-2 victory Saturday, behind two first-period goals by Nolan]. That's what you live with, with young guys.

"But you know they're gaining experience fast, you know they're just kind of emerging. And ultimately what you'll have is a good core of young players. And then ... being able to continue to find veterans like Nolan and guys like that who are going to be in the marketplace."

Right winger Marian Gaborik is 27 and goalie Niklas Backstrom is 31. Both are free agents. Before long, we will know how they fit in with the team's long-term plans.

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