Great News and a Great Deal. Per Bob McKenzie's Twitter:

 RDS reports Latendresse signs two-year deal with MIN, $5M total, $2.5M AAV.

This is a great deal for the Wild, We keep one of our best scorers at a manageable price and hit for two years. This will help answer the question if last year was a fluke. If it is it's a short cheap deal. If he's the real deal, it's two years and he can be extended when the Wild have more cap space.

So, in a surprise move the Oilers did not qualify Ryan Potulny. The question has been raised in many places, does he make sense for our beloved Wild. I believe he does. At 6' and 190 pounds he has decent size, slightly larger than the much sought after Stephen Weiss. He also has been complemented on his good instincts and net presence. The knock on Potulny is that he doesn't have the hands necessary to be a top line center and is perhaps not as fast as you might like.  On the other hand, he was one of the few bright spots on an abysmal Oilers squad. Here is what Copper and Blue had to say about the (non)move made by the Oilers:

Ryan Potulny had more goals than every Oiler not named Dustin Penner, Gilbert Brule and Sam Gagner.  His qualifying offer would have cost $654,500 and needed to be a one-way deal because he played in more than 60 games in 2009-10.  The Oilers, apparently, didn't want to give Potulny a one-way deal.

Since he will hit the market as a free agent, one question is: how inflated an offer will he command? Given the crop of largely 3rd-line and otherwise disappointing centers, it seems likely that he will command around $1.5M to $2M, possibly more depending on the level of desperation and how dumb the GMs in question is. If Fletch could sign him for around $1.5M he would have more cap space than if he signed Cullen.

Finally, here is a brief comparison of numbers: At the age of 25 Potulny netted 32 points (15G, 17A) in 64 games. These numbers are very similar to the numbers that Stephen Weiss had during his first few years.  Additionally, Putulny has put up excellent numbers in the AHL. In 2008-09 he posted a tidy 62 points (38G, 24A) in 70 games for the Springfield Falcons. That shows some definite potential. Not to mention that last year was his first full year in the NHL. Potulny hasn't put up NHL numbers as good as Matt Cullen's so he may appear not as good of an investment. Given more time and based on his minor league numbers he would appear to have a lot more upside than Cullen, who is rapidly approaching the twilight of his career.

When compared to the Kyle Brodziak the numbers are nearly identical. Brodziak had 32 points (9G, 23A). However, it is widely recognized by Wild fans that Brodziak was excellent as a checker with Clutterbuck on his wing. His minor league numbers also indicate that he is much more of an energy/forechecker kind of player.

You can also make the argument that Potulny would be better centering better players. If the Wild signed him, he would (in theory) center Tenderness and Havlat. There is no doubt that Potulny is a gamble, but the Wild have no real internal option (assuming no PMB). While there is concern that he was dumped by a quasi-pro team, I think Potulny could turn out to be a steal.

After reading the comments on Russo's Blog and seeing some of the same fodder come over here I have to ask are we really surprised. While the draft this year is on Fletcher, he is still handcuffed by the failure of he who must not be named. Why is Brent Burns our only asset? Why don't we have any prospects or picks to trade? Because of you know who. This notion that Fletch is asleep at the wheel is totally ludicrous. He has a relatively high pick in what is shaping up to be an extremely deep draft. He's going to hold out unless he has a true deal to help the team. Are we going to land Carter or Ryan, I doubt it. Even if he made a move like we would still be crippled if you look long term. We are too bad to make a dent in the playoffs and too good to make a dent in the draft. He can't just fire up the old xbox and NHL 10 and say hey this deal looks good. It's time to deal with the fact that it's going to take at least one more year, if not two or three before the Wild are able to make a serious run. We should be thrilled with the moves he's made already for Tenderness, Nate Prosser, and Casey Wellman. He has demonstrated a willingness to make a deal, deals that would not have ever been considered by you know who, without selling the future. I am willing to let him do his job.

By the time I publish this it will be moot, but as of right now the Wild have a shot at an 8.1% chance to win the #1 pick.  Without getting into the Vegas odds here is the situation.  The Wild currently sit in 22nd place in the league.  There are 4 teams that can pass the Wild (currently at 81 points) in the standings, if the Wild lose their two remaining games.  Here they are:

• Blue Jackets (78 points) Remaining schedule: @ Detroit, vs. Detroit
  
• Hurricanes (78 points) Remaining schedule: vs Montreal, @ Boston
• Thrashers (81 points) Remaining schedule: @Washington, vs Pittsburgh
• Islanders (78 points) Remaining schedule @ Pittsburgh, @ New Jersey, vs Pittsburgh

The Wild need to lose out, Columbus and Carolina to win out, Atlanta to win once, and the Islanders to win two of three. As you can see by the level of competition, it doesn't look good.

As for the draft lottery, the odds start at 25% for the last place team and .5% for the 17th place team.  Keep in mind that you can only move up four spots if you win and down one pick if you lose, which boosts the percentage for the worst team to 48.2% to win the first pick and guarantees at least the 2nd pick if you're the Oilers. I don't have a degree in astrophysics so don't ask me to explain. The percentages for the bottom five round out as follows:

• Oilers, 48.2%
• 29th, 18.8%
• 28th, 14.2%
• 27th, 10.7%
• 26th, 8.1%