While getting re-acquainted with my favorite hockey blogs of yore in a vain attempt to catch up on the great work being done out there in the time I was away from the world I came across this recent post from D-Lee at RedBlackHockey about the rumors floating around Minnesota's Marian Gaborik. For you 'Canes fans in the audience give it a perusal. But in that post he linked to something even more ridiculous, an obvious fan article at BleacherReport trying to make the case for how the Sabres would be trading a premier player like Gaborik for spare parts like Maxim Afinogenov and Tim Connolly/Ales Kotalik. All protests to his making this stuff up out of thin air aside, Andrew Mason makes the following Eklund-esque pitch:

The Sabres, on the other hand, have plenty of cap space. They currently have nine million dollars free as of today which is a good chunk of change. They can easily sign Gaborik to a long-term deal for whatever he wants-especially if they trade Max plus either Kotalik or Connolly, which would free up an extra $5.23-6.23 million.

No way does Darth Regier trade $6 million in salary to add $7.5 million, which is what Gaborik's payout will be this year (No, this was not a front-loaded contract, as it should have been). And, while the Sabres may have a bit of cap space to work with this season they are, as of the Numminen signing, $2 million over their much-maligned personal cap of $50 million. Regier will try to get value for Max and if none is available he'll hope for a great contract season and bid him a fond farewell at the end of it.

Trading for Gaborik doesn't address the lack of center depth on this team, which wouldn't be an issue if Tim(may!) Connolly wasn't one hit away from mopping floors at a hospital... on the graveyard shift. Further stretching the feasibility of this idea is the need to extend of home-grown RW sniper Jason Pominville, who is going to cost them a pretty penny (north of $4 million for 5-6 years if they're lucky). Regier is going to be loyal to the kids he's helped groom from within. There's no way he pushes Pominville out the door to take on Gaborik, unless the Wild are paying part of the salary, which is not allowed under this CBA.

Lastly, I just don't see Regier trading one guy who can't perform in the playoffs for another at twice the price. So, in my mind this one gets a big E5 and a double helping of Mediterranean Sea Salt.

Ta,

Say what you will about Larry Brooks and his Sunday NHL column in the New York Post, there's little doubt that everyone in the league reads it -- which is probably why Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) President and CEO Tim Leiweke decided to turn to Brooks when it came to coming clean about AEG's low-profile loan to William "Boots" Del Baggio.

One of the hottest stories going in the league off the ice during this offseason has been the starting revelation that Del Baggio had some covert help when it came to financing his purchase of a minority interest in the Nashville Predators.

As most folks have read by now, Del Baggio, who seems to have been a little light in the wallet when it comes to his own cash reserves, was able to buy a piece of the Predators thanks to some creative financing from AEG, the owners of the LA Kings, and Craig Leipold, the former owner of the Predators who is now in control of the Minnesota Wild. And, as we've also subsequently discovered, the deal was pulled off without the commissioner knowing a thing about it.

From the outside looking in, it's clear Leipold was looking for any way to grease his skids out of Nashville after losing millions on the Predators, while you don't have to be a rocket scientist to conclude AEG was in on the deal to help Del Baggio gain control of the team and move it to Kansas City where another AEG-owned arena is looking for an anchor tenant.

Needless to say, the commissioner is a little miffed and is promising an investigation.

Enter Leiweke, a sports executive who has been around the block a few times.

Now that the Minnesota Wild have made the moves they're going to make in free agency, and they've bought out the contract of forward Mark Parrish, there is only one thing left to do this off-season.

Sign Marian Gaborik to a contract extension.

It's probably the biggest move the Wild will make, because it makes it perfectly clear that he's the player the Wild are going to build a championship contender around.

Gaborik is coming off a 42-goal season. It would be very smart to sign him now and keep him from entering free agency (we all saw how well that worked with Brian Rolston).

But can the Wild make it happen?

Just over a month from now, the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota will play host to the 2008 Republican National Convention for four nights. Forty-one nights out of the year (and a couple more, depending on how hard they're willing to work in the Spring), the building serves as home ice for the Minnesota Wild. The mildly disturbing image above (via Wonkette) combines the two equally entertaining events (zing!) by poorly photoshopping the GOP's traditional mascot over (we think) Wild forward James Sheppard.

Since the NHL season won't open for more than a month after John McCain and friends leave town, there can only be one explanation for the inclusion of this picture in the confab's promotional material -- a subliminal campaign by the Wild to make newly re-acquired Andrew Brunette look like a decent skater by comparison. Well-played, Minny. Well-played.

The Minnesota Wild have been quite busy in free agency.

One thing they never bothered to do was re-sign free-agent center Pavol Demitra. Instead, the Wild watched as the long-rumored deal between Demitra and the division rival Vancouver Canucks was finally made official Thursday. Demitra gets $8 million over two years.

"Throughout his NHL career, Pavol has proven himself to be an offensive contributor wherever he has played," Vancouver general manager Mike Gillis said in a statement. "Pavol is a strong two-way hockey player with excellent quickness and finish. His play-making abilities will be an asset on our power-play and make him a great addition to our top six forwards."

It's worth noting that Gillis is Demitra's longtime agent, so there may be some bias in the above.

I'm a Wild fan, so there may be some bias here, too. That's okay. We're all biased in our own little way.

I don't begrudge Demitra for leaving. In fact, I'm kind of glad he did. He was generally useless offensively for Minnesota in 2007-2008, despite it being a contract year. The 15 goals he scored marked his lowest full-season total as an NHL player, and his 54 points were the lowest he'd tallied in eight seasons.

That said, Demitra is a solid veteran addition for a team in Vancouver that is practically devoid of serious offensive upside. It's likely he will rebound from what was really not much of a season for him in Minnesota.

(Tap of the stick: Dr. Mirtle)

Well, let's just say that Wild fans hope the Wild aren't done yet.

Free agency started Tuesday, and as usual, it's anything but free. The insane money being thrown around makes you wonder how the league's personnel people got their jobs ($3.75 million a season for Jeff Finger? Really?).

In Minnesota, the Wild have developed a reputation for fiscal conservatism. There's nothing really wrong with that, but there's a bit of a problem on the Minnesota roster as of right now.

That problem? There aren't many forwards. In fact, Jacques Lemaire couldn't field four full lines right now.

Not only did Brian Rolston sign with New Jersey, but Aaron Voros went to the Rangers, and Todd Fedoruk signed with Phoenix. Yes, the Wild signed Andrew Brunette and Craig Weller, but look at the roster on the Wild's official website. Ignore the fact that they still have Voros listed.

The forwards on the team right now? Eric Belanger, Derek Boogaard, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Brunette, Marian Gaborik, Mikko Koivu, Mark Parrish, Benoit Pouliot, James Sheppard, Stephane Veilleux, and Weller.

(Bouchard and Veilleux are restricted free agents who are expected back.)

That's eleven players, and if you think Boogaard and Weller are each playing 82 games, you're crazy.

Unless the Wild plan on taking two more minor-league prospects to camp this fall (outside of Sheppard and Pouliot), general manager Doug Risebrough needs to sign (or trade for) at least two more decent forwards. Minnesota doesn't have enough quality players to fill two solid lines as is, and that won't cut it on a team expected to take another step toward a Stanley Cup.

Back in 2003, this goal by Andrew Brunette accomplished a few meaningful things.

• It gave Minnesota their first-ever playoff series win.
• It ended the legendary career of Patrick Roy.
• It cemented Brunette as the kind of player Wild fans would never forget.

After the NHL lockout, Wild general manager Doug Risebrough decided not to re-sign Brunette, who went to Colorado. The thought was that Brunette's lack of speed would hurt him in the "new NHL". Instead, Brunette tallied over 200 points in three years for the Avalanche. Oops.

Today, the 34-year-old Brunette inked a three-year deal with Minnesota, bringing him back to the place he made a name for himself as a pro.

Brunette scored 55 goals in his previous three-year stint with the Wild. Forward Brian Rolston is thought to be as good as gone, so the Wild will probably need more than that out of Brunette this time around.

The Wild also tried to bolster their defensive corps. They acquired Marek Zidlicky from the Nashville Predators in exchange for young forward Ryan Jones and a second-round pick in 2009. Zidlicky is a good offensive defenseman, but he doesn't bring much to the physical side of the game. The Wild are clearly upgrading the blue line with puck-moving players, but it appears they may be falling short of the physical presence they'll eventually need there.

It sounds simple.

Let one veteran forward (Brian Rolston) go. Sign another veteran forward (Andrew Brunette). It sounds simple, and it may be what the Minnesota Wild decide to do when free agency opens up Tuesday.

As Kevin Schultz reported, the Wild have traded Rolston's negotiating rights to Tampa Bay for a conditional pick. Common sense dictates that this is the final step in the process of losing a player who has scored 96 goals for the Wild in the last three years.

Michael Russo notes that the Wild and Brunette seem to have mutual interest in a reunion. There is no secret that Wild general manager Doug Risebrough has a tinge of regret over his decision to let Brunette walk three years ago. Evidently, Brunette has some similar regrets. Well, not exactly the same.

Plus, if Brunette returns, all will be forgiven with his wife, Lorie.

"I don't think she's still gotten over leaving Minnesota," Brunette quipped.

Hey, Risebrough will take it any way he can get it. He needs a presence in front of the net, and he needs a presence in the locker room that can pick up some of the void left by Rolston.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are all over the place this off-season. Tonight, they added two more transactions to a very long list of off-season moves.

On the eve of the eve to the opening of the free agency market, a big name is off the table. After being traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Tampa Bay Lightning yesterday, Ryan Malone has signed a long term deal with his new team. There is no official confirmation from the Lightning on their website at the moment but TSN is reporting that it is a seven-year deal worth $31.5 million. It's loaded up front, too. TSN is estimating that Malone will receive $15 million during the first two years of the deal. That makes for a very expensive 50-point guy this year and a very cheap one down the road. A very interesting contract structure, to be sure.

But don't think that's all the Lightning did late on Sunday night. They also acquired the rights to another highly sought after free agent to be, Brian Rolston of the Minnesota Wild. This story was confirmed on their website as of 11:30 PM Sunday night. In return the Wild will receive a conditional draft pick in either 2009 or 2010. I would imagine, but this is pure speculation, that it is tied into whether or not Rolston signs with Tampa Bay.

So there you have it, folks. More moves by a team that has taken the NHL transaction wire by storm. Right now I'm off to bed, but you can be sure FanHouse will have coverage of this and more in the morning. Stay with us into Tuesday as well as we'll have wall-to-wall coverage of the Free Agent Frenzy.

Here's a new feature I've been resisting for a while here at FanHouse, but with the offseason upon us I feel as if we have no choice. Welcome to The Bag Skate, FanHouse's afternoon roundup of everything that's happening on a typical offseason weekday. Why The Bag Skate? Because it's Summertime and you'd probably rather be doing just about anything else than writing about hockey with weather this beautiful. Now, might one be able to say that we're swiping this idea from elsewhere? I'd prefer to call it an homage.

The head turner of the day has to be Rick Westhead's stunner in the Toronto Star revealing that LA Kings owner Phil Anschutz and Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold were the money men behind William "Boots" Delbaggio's purchase of a stake in the Nashville Predators. What's worse, Leipold and Anschutz, who both sit on the league's Board of Governors and are considered allies of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, made this $17 million loan without informing him about what they were up to. I wonder why?