Monday, June 2, 2008

The Wild, Jake Gardener, and you

According to Mynhldraft.com, The Wild, with the 24th pick, will select Jake Gardener out of Minnetonka High School. Now, I live right by Minnetonka and have seen a bunch of his games. The kid's filthy. He's a great skater who can move the puck real well and has the moves to make any player look silly. To top it off, he's got a cannon for a wrist shot, but I worry about his hitting ability. He isn't as offensive a defenseman as, say, an Aaron Ness from Roseau, but I think he needs to work on the defensive piece of his game.
Face it, the Wild really need a solid blueliner at this point in the game. Carney an Johnsson won't last forever, and who knows how Schultz will respond coming back from that broken leg. Maybe the Wild will go best available in the first round, which might mean Gardener, but I think its time for the Wild to stop playing around and fill some holes, if not at the draft in the free agent market.

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