SB Nation - Krystofer Kolanos

2009 NHL Free Agency: Minnesota Wild Needs v. Wants

nathaneide — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:29:54 -0000

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Every team can improve in a hurry through free agency. Sure, the draft is sexy and fun. It's nice to look at the new models and dream about what could be, but when it comes down to it, that's more of a pipe dream. When you really want to see the future, you look at July 1st.

Pending UFAs: Marian Gaborik, Stephane Veilleux, Krystopher Kolanos, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Kurtis Foster, Martin Skoula, Tomas Mojzis, Nolan Schaefer
Pending RFAs: Dan Fritsche, Benoit Pouliot, Danny Irmen, Peter Olvecky, Josh Harding
Salary cap space: $13.98-million
Projected budget: $56.8-million

Key needs: Scoring, faceoffs, scoring, oh and a big-body defenseman would be nice. Buddha discussed the current Wild UFA forwards and defensemen previously. If Marian Gaborik signs elsewhere, then this team really needs to fill the scoring gap, and it would likely have to be filled by two guys (Sedins) though we need one fewer center now that Fletcher picked up Kyle Brodziak on trade day two.

Chuck Fletcher and Craig Leipold know that the way this team will improve over the next three or four years is through free agency

The Wild plans to experiment in training camp with moving right winger Pierre-Marc Bouchard back to his natural center position, but the team will also attempt to sign a second-line center behind Mikko Koivu.

The intended target will be Mikko's older brother, Saku, the longtime Montreal Canadiens captain.

The Wild needs defensemen, especially if Martin Skoula, Marc- Andre Bergeron and Kurtis Foster are allowed to walk. It wouldn't be surprising if Fletcher pursued two or three he's familiar with -- perhaps Francois Beauchemin or Rob Scuderi. - Michael Russo, Star Tribune

Potential targets: Marian Gaborik, Martin Havlat, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Mike Cammalleri, Saku Koivu, Miroslav Satan, Alex Tanguay, Alex Kovalev, Erik Cole, Brian Gionta, Derek Morris, Mike Komisarek

What our rivals want: Canucks, Avs, Oilers, Flames

Poll

What's your top target?

Marian Gaborik

77 votes

Saku Koivu

95 votes

The Sedins

153 votes

Mike Cammalleri

38 votes

Derek Morris

1 votes

Other (name in comments)

15 votes

379 votes | Poll has closed

Wild reassign Krys Kolanos, sign Marco Scandella

nathaneide — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:17:30 -0000

The Minnesota Wild have apparently decided that Krys Kolanos was around long enough, and they clearly don't have any need for his offensive help in these three must-win games.

Krystofer Kolanos

#39 / Center / Minnesota Wild

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Born: Jul 27, 1981

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Krystofer Kolanos	21	3	3	6	3	16	1	0	0	0	30	10.0

Okay, frankly the guy hasn't been outstanding, and Houston really needs him for the playoff run. I think that says a lot about where he stands in the organization. He's more valuable to get the Houston Aeros to the second round of the AHL playoffs than he is trying to help get the Wild into the post-season.

Thanks Krys, it's been fun.

In other news, the Wild signed Marco Scandella from Val-d'Or of the the Q to an entry level deal. What do we know about him? He's a big defenseman who needs help moving the puck. That's fine. We need someone to push people around.

Look for him to start next season in Houston.

Season	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-	SH	SH%	PPG	SHG	WG	TG	SG	WSG	SSH	SSH%
2007-08	Val-d`Or	65	4	10	14	35	-22	77	5.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
2008-09	Val-d`Or	58	10	27	37	64	-19	182	5.5	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
TOTAL	LHJMQ / QMJHL	123	14	37	51	99	-41	259	5.4	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	-

From Hockey's Future:

Talent Analysis

A strong-skating, physical, stay-at-home blue liner, Scandella takes great delight in using his size and long wingspan to clear the front of his net. He thrives by playing a no-nonsense, simple game in his own end. His decision making and puck skills have room for improvement.

Future

Scandella is a late-bloomer physically, having grown tremendously over the last three years so it's hard to say where his ceiling is at this point, but he will most likely be a second-pairing, possible shutdown-type of defenseman at the pro level. He will probably play at the junior level for two more seasons, and then begin his pro career in the AHL in 2010.

Wild reassign Krys Kolanos to Houston, call up Peter Olvecky

nathaneide — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:27:00 -0000

Krystofer Kolanos

#39 / Center / Minnesota Wild

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Born: Jul 27, 1981

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2008 - Krystofer Kolanos	19	3	3	6	3	16	1	0	0	0	30	10.0

Peter Olvecky

#28 / Left Forward / Minnesota Wild

Height: 6-2

Weight: 214

Born: Oct 11, 1985

Today the Minnesota Wild sent Kolanos back to Houston and brought up LW Peter Olvecky who has 6 goals and 17 assists in 41 games at Houston. Olvecky was the 3rd round pick in the 04 draft. This will be his first NHL call-up.

Can anyone explain this to me at all?

EDIT: It gets worse, Kolanos has to clear waivers in order to report to Houston. I'm thinking he might not clear. Then again, Gerber just cleared.

Minnesota Wild vs. Edmonton Oilers: The Morning After

nathaneide — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:23:16 -0000

Minnesota Wild 5-1 Edmonton Oilers

via cdn.nhl.com

How? How on earth has this team scored 11 goals (10 even strength) in two games? I mean, I understand that it was Phoenix and Edmonton, but even against the worst teams in the NHL, the Wild offense has been anemic for months. Tonight it was Kolanos, Clutterbuck, Bouchard, Burns and Belanger. The goal-scorers aren't scoring right now, but the energy guys are proving to be assets and finally getting the goals they deserve. Combine them with the great offensive help from the defensemen (Burns, Zidlicky, Bergeron) and they are picking up the slack right now as Koivu and Brunette fight whatever has been affecting them.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard finally got his game back on. His goal was a thing of beauty, and his linemates finally took advantage of his excellent playmaking. If he can continue to play like this, the guys on his line will continue to score. They just need to focus and work hard. It'll come.

How will the Pouliot situation affect the kids? Kolanos has taken advantage of his chances here and has proven that he can't be held back anymore. Let's hope he doesn't get complacent and instead continues to provide that spark from the energy lines. Veilleux has done what he's asked to do. Colton Gillies needs to get in the flow of the games now that Pouliot is back in Houston. James Sheppard needs to look at Benoit Pouliot and understand that if he doesn't produce and doesn't go hard every shift of every game, that he too will be heading back to Houston.

So, with the $2MM in cap space now with Pouliot gome, what will Risebrough do? Bring in scoring? Move Gaborik for someone? Re-sign Backstrom? What would you do with it?

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

Pierre-Marc Bouchard (1 G, 2 A, +3)
Brent Burns (1 G, +3)
Krys Kolanos (1 G, +3)

Questions to Answer

Can the offense continue their excellent 5 on 5 play from the Phoenix game? That they did. Four even-strength goals. Nicely done.
With Ales Hemsky out, who will step up for the Oilers? Nobody. I assumed it would be Penner, but he helped on Reddox's garbage goal, and vanished.
Can this game set the tone for the second-half divisional meetings? Let's hope so. The Wild played well in their own end, only giving up 21 shots, kept rebounds out of trouble and forced the Oilers to the outside. On the offensive side, they cycled well, put on pressure and drew penalties while scoring five goals. At the end, they avoided stupid penalties and the chippy game the Oilers were trying to start.
Can Koivu or Brunette find the back of the net? Nope, but they were picked up by the other guys. Let's hope they get back on the score sheet Saturday.
Roloson hasn't performed well against his old club, will tonight be different? Not at all. Roli was absolutely abused, but his defense wasn't helpful. The Wild came right down the high slot on three occasions tonight and scored beautiful goals.
Can Owen Nolan continue his excellent play? Nolan didn't factor into the scoring, but had a good game, used his size well and worked the puck.

Notes

Backstrom is 10-0 with a 1.58 gaa in 12 games against the Oilers.
Bouchard broke a 10-game streak without a goal.
Craig Weller was taken to the training room after taking a beating from Sheldon Souray
Roloson's 11 losses against the Wild are tied with Roberto Luongo for most all-time.

The Game In Pictures

via cdn.nhl.com

via stmedia.startribune.com

Minnesota Wild vs. New York Islanders: The Morning After

nathaneide — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 04:52:12 -0000

Minnesota Wild 4-1 New York Islanders

via stmedia.startribune.com

It started off ugly. Scoreless after the first, yet again. Gave up the first goal after having a huge number of chances. Tied 1-1 after 2, while outshooting the opposition 26-10. Making an opposition goalie look like a Vezina award winner (though to be fair, Joey MacDonald was lights-out tonight). However, that one goal with less than a minute left in the second was the spark the Wild needed. Sheppard's feed was a thing of beauty, and Stephane Veilleux answered the call by banging it home to finally cause the Team of 18,000 to breathe easier. I asked the Twitterverse if that was going to be the goal that opened the floodgates, and it certainly was.

The third period was a thing of beauty. The Wild saw that MacDonald could be beaten, picked up the pace, crashed the net and took it to the overmatched, injury-stricken New York Islanders. On the first goal of the third period, Derek Boogaard led the 3 on 2 (yes, I'll let that sink in, Derek Boogaard led an odd-man rush), fed the puck nicely to Krys Kolanos who took a good, low, hard shot on MacDonald. With Gillies and Boogaard in the low slot, MacDonald had no chance to control the rebound as the puck went off Boogaard's stick, off MacDonald, and right to Gillies who picked up the garbage, finally netting the young man his first career NHL goal. At that point, it was on. The Wild were up and down the ice, pinching on D, breaking out with speed, and creating all kinds of problems for the Islanders. Mikko Koivu then won a draw, dropped it to Kim Johnsson, who fed it back to Koivu. At this point, Koivu toe-dragged so nicely that the Islander d-man is still looking for his breezers in the circle, then snapped a laser over MacDonald's left shoulder into the upper corner. That pretty goal was then followed by Pierre-Marc Bouchard's pass to himself, creating space and putting a gorgeous shot by the helpless MacDonald to complete the scoring.

This game was really never in question. Even when it was 1-0 Isles and tied at 1 the Wild controlled the run of play. Only the workmanlike effort of Joey MacDonald kept this game close. Kudos to you Mr MacDonald, and well done Wild.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

Colton Gillies (1 G)
Mikko Koivu (1 G)
He Who Must Not Be Named (+2)

Questions to Answer

Does Gaborik play? If he does, will he be tentative? Yes/No. Gaborik played, put in 21:30 TOI (2nd only to Koivu amongst forwards) and looked good tonight. Had his chances, but was stopped time and again by MacDonald.
With Kolanos, Gillies, Clutterbuck and Pouliot all in the lineup, will the youth movement prevail? Gillies finally got his first career goal, Clutterbuck had another good game and was named the 2nd star, Kolanos got an assist on Gillies' goal and Pouloit had a couple great chances tonight and played well. Youth served tonight.
Should Reitz be the odd man out? Well, it's only the Islanders, but the Wild only gave up 16 shots, so early results say that they are better without him. Only time will tell though.
When the team giving up the most goals plays the team scoring the least amount of goals, can the anemic offense get the boost they require? It took long enough, but without MacDonald, this would have been more like 6 or 7 to 1. Let's hope it continues tomorrow night against the equally injury-riddled, equally hapless St. Louis Blues.
Is a trade actually in the works? Who knows, but Russo thinks something is up. I guess we'll see if anything happens by morning.

Notes

11 different players had points tonight, and no member of the Wild had more than 1.
The Wild's 39 shots was a season high.
This was the Islanders 8th straight loss.
Andy Sutton hurt his foot blocking a shot in the first period and did not return.
The Islanders have allowed an NHL-high 119 goals

The Game In Pictures

via d.yimg.com

via cdn.nhl.com

via d.yimg.com

Game Highlights