Newly appointed Minnesota Wild general manager Jake Mednick looked rather sombre as he discussed reworking his club to have a very bright future.
At a press conference today the head executive of the Wild explained that he didn't think his club had the depth at forward to either truly compete for the Stanley Cup or play the new style of hockey he is looking to intiate in Minnesota.
"Looking at our crop of forwards, theres just not enough talent or scoring. We have one scoring line and then we have three shut down lines it seems. Maybe that's how this team used to play, that's not how my team plays," Mednick said.
He talked about how he believed his team could be allowed to play a more open style of hockey considering the wealth of tough, smart defensemen they have now and intend to have in the future.
"Burner and Schultzy are terrific, they're huge for us back there, and Kim can still play some hockey. We're seeing some fantastic starts from Bergeron and Skouls," Mednick said. "And our organization fully expects Foster to recover and become atleast a top 4 defenseman. We'll also be looking to acquire one or two more blueliners who play shutdown roles."
He also defended the move of star winger Marian Gaborik.
"It was tough to move Marian. However, we wanted the deal done quickly before his stock went down. We love Filatov, are looking to acquire first round picks and believe Mayorov may be a hidden gem. This team is going to be very in exciting in a little while. If our fans are patient, they will be will rewarded."