This has been reported, but it’s finally official. The Wild doesn’t know yet how long camp will be in Grand Forks because it hasn’t been told exactly how long it needs to be out of Xcel.

Also, exhibition schedule is still to come. If you play reporter, however, you know at least five games – home and home with Columbus and Chicago, and a game at Montreal — because those teams have released their preseason schedules. 

MINNESOTA WILD TO OPEN 2008 TRAINING CAMP PRESENTED BY

WELLS FARGO AT RALPH ENGELSTAD ARENA IN GRAND FORKS, N.D.

WILD TO START TRAINING CAMP OUTSIDE TWIN CITIES FOR FIRST TIME IN TEAM HISTORY

SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Minnesota Wild President and General Manager Doug Risebrough today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club will open its 2008 training camp presented by Wells Fargo at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. on Saturday, Sept. 20.

“The Wild has had a great relationship with the hockey fans of the greater Grand Forks area for many years and has enjoyed great success in NHL preseason games there,” said Tom Lynn, Assistant General Manager/Hockey Operations. “Ralph Engelstad Arena is one of the finest hockey facilities in the world, and outside of our home in the Twin Cities, we could not imagine a better venue for starting our training camp in 2008.”

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The Wild has avoided a Monday arbitration hearing by re-signing left wing Stephane Veilleux to a one-year, $737,500 contract, plus a $125,000 signing bonus. This is roughly what Veilleux would have received from an arbitrator.

Veilleux can become an unrestricted free agent next summer if not re-signed by the Wild prior to July 1.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard is the only restricted free agent left.

My best guess is this is exactly what will happen with Bouchard — the two sides won’t be able to work out a long-term deal, so they’ll sign him to a one-year deal rather than waste time and go to arbitration. That’s usually what happens.

Wild left wing Stephane Veilleux has cleared waivers, according to two sources, despite only a $15,000 pickup fee.

I think you can read the below blog post and know exactly why Veilleux wasn’t taken.

NHL 2008-2009 SCHEDULE (All Times Local to Home Club)

SCHEDULE FOR Minnesota Wild

DAY DATE OPPONENT TIME (CDT)
OCTOBER * REGULAR SEASON
SAT. 11 BOSTON 7:30 P.M.
Tue. 14 @ Atlanta 6:00 p.m.
Thu. 16 @ Florida 6:30 p.m.
Sat. 18 @ Tampa Bay 6:30 p.m.
THU. 23 BUFFALO 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 25 COLUMBUS 7:00 P.M.
MON. 27 CHICAGO 7:00 P.M.
Wed. 29 @ Dallas 7:30 p.m.
THU. 30 MONTREAL 7:00 P.M.

NOVEMBER
Sat. 1 @ Phoenix 9:00 p.m.
Tue. 4 @ San Jose 9:30 p.m.
Thu. 6 @ Colorado 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 8 @ Vancouver 9:00 p.m.
THU. 13 PHOENIX 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 15 COLUMBUS 7:00 P.M.
Tue. 18 @ Pittsburgh 6:00 p.m.
THU. 20 VANCOUVER 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 22 ST. LOUIS 7:00 P.M.
MON. 24 WASHINGTON 7:00 P.M.
WED. 26 DALLAS 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 28 TAMPA BAY 1:00 P.M.
Sat. 29 @ Nashville 7:00 p.m.

DECEMBER
MON. 1 COLORADO 7:00 P.M.
WED. 3 ST. LOUIS 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 5 VANCOUVER 7:00 P.M.
Sat. 6 @ Nashville 7:00 p.m.
Thu. 11 @ Phoenix 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 13 @ Los Angeles 3:00 p.m.
Sun. 14 @ Anaheim 7:00 p.m.
WED. 17 CALGARY 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 19 N.Y. ISLANDERS 7:00 P.M.
Sat. 20 @ St. Louis 7:30 p.m.
TUE. 23 CAROLINA 7:00 P.M.
SUN. 28 CHICAGO 5:00 P.M.
Mon. 29 @ Calgary 8:00 p.m.
WED. 31 SAN JOSE 5:00 P.M.

JANUARY
SAT. 3 DETROIT 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 4 @ Colorado 7:00 p.m.
Tue. 6 @ Boston 6:00 p.m.
Thu. 8 @ Philadelphia 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 10 @ Columbus 6:00 p.m.
TUE. 13 PHOENIX 7:00 P.M.
THU. 15 EDMONTON 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 17 ANAHEIM 8:00 P.M.
Mon. 19 @ Chicago 7:00 p.m.
TUE. 20 LOS ANGELES 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 25 ALL-STAR GAME (Montreal) TBA

DAY DATE OPPONENT TIME (CDT)
JANUARY - CONTINUED
TUE. 27 TORONTO 7:00 P.M.
Fri. 30 @ Edmonton 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 31 @ Vancouver 9:00 p.m.

FEBRUARY
WED. 4 ANAHEIM 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 6 NASHVILLE 7:00 P.M.
SUN. 8 EDMONTON 2:00 P.M.
WED. 11 COLORADO 7:00 P.M.
Thu. 12 @ Detroit 6:30 p.m.
SAT. 14 OTTAWA 7:00 P.M.
THU. 19 CALGARY 7:00 P.M.
SAT. 21 DETROIT 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 22 @ Chicago 6:00 p.m.
TUE. 24 LOS ANGELES 7:00 P.M.
Fri. 27 @ Calgary 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 28 @ Edmonton 9:00 p.m.

MARCH
Tue. 3 @ Vancouver 9:00 p.m.
Thu. 5 @ San Jose 9:30 p.m.
Sat. 7 @ Los Angeles 3:00 p.m.
Sun. 8 @ Anaheim 7:00 p.m.
TUE. 10 SAN JOSE 7:00 P.M.
Thu. 12 @ Colorado 8:00 p.m.
Sat. 14 @ Dallas 7:00 p.m.
Sun. 15 @ St. Louis 5:00 p.m.
TUE. 17 COLORADO 7:00 P.M.
Fri. 20 @ New Jersey 6:00 p.m.
SUN. 22 EDMONTON 2:00 P.M.
Tue. 24 @ N.Y. Rangers 6:00 p.m.
Wed. 25 @ N.Y. Islanders 6:00 p.m.
Sat. 28 @ Calgary 9:00 p.m.
Sun. 29 @ Edmonton 7:00 p.m.
TUE. 31 VANCOUVER 7:00 P.M.

APRIL
FRI. 3 CALGARY 7:00 P.M.
Sun. 5 @ Detroit 4:00 p.m.
TUE. 7 DALLAS 7:00 P.M.
FRI. 10 NASHVILLE 7:00 P.M.
Sat. 11 @ Columbus 6:00 p.m.

Correction in bold 

Good morning. Just an fyi, I’ll throw up another blog post when I find out after 11 a.m. whether Stephane Veilleux cleared waivers or was claimed. Check back.

Veilleux asked me yesterday whether I thought he’d be claimed. I told him if this was the middle of the season, there’s no doubt in my mind he’d be snatched up. However, I told him I have my doubts now because of his contract situation.

After talking to a number of people the last 24 hours, I really have my doubts now.

And quite frankly, this is why you need an agent.

Remember, Veilleux is a restricted free agent. He’s one year from unrestricted free agency. Any team that claims Veilleux would want to make sure it can sign him long-term.

Well, say you were interested in Veilleux during this 24-hour waiver period, who do you call to make sure you can sign Veilleux long-term? He has no agent! And he said no team called him directly.

And here’s the added component. Veilleux’s arbitration hearing is Monday. Each side must exchange their arbitration briefs 48 hours prior, or in this case, Saturday morning at 9.

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Here’s a sneak peek at tomorrow’s article. Remember, since it’s running tomorrow, “today” is tomorrow in the article. Got it! 

This could be Stephane Veilleux’s final day with the Minnesota Wild. As I reported this morning, the 2001 draft pick was placed on waivers earlier today by the Wild as the team looks to resolve a contract dispute with the restricted free agent. 

Remember, Veilleux fired his agent earlier this summer, so he is representing himself in negotiations.

This is the basic strategy here, and it’s exactly what I speculated on the earlier post.

Veilleux is one year from unrestricted free agency. There is a major bridge between what the Wild feels he’s worth next year and beyond as an unrestricted free agent and what Veilleux thinks he’s worth.

So the Wild is trying to “solve the problem,” said Tom Lynn.

If Veilleux is right, another team will claim him knowing, conceivably, it will need to pay Veilleux what he wants. If the Wild is right, he’ll clear waivers and Veilleux will conceivably learn his value isn’t as high as he thinks it is.

Any team can claim Veilleux by 11 a.m. Thursday. If another team claims Veilleux, he immediately becomes their property and it will be their responsibility to either negotiate a contract with him or go to arbitration.

If Veilleux goes unclaimed, the Wild will either sign him to a one-year deal, go to arbitration where Veilleux would be awarded a one-year deal or the team will continue to attempt to sign him long-term. I’ve gotten some confused emails. Remember, waivers in the NHL are not like other sports. If he clears waivers, it doesn’t mean the Wild releases him. He’s still the Wild’s property.

I just got off the phone with Veilleux. He is taking this maturely, but he is deeply saddened and disappointed “that we have to go this far.” He said Doug Risebrough called him this morning, explained to him the waiver decision and offered him one final contract. Veilleux still turned it down. He said Risebrough was very nice and there would be no “bad personal feelings” if he clears waivers and is still Wild property tomorrow.

He would not divulge what he’s asking for and he does not regret his decision to fire his agent. If this is his last day with the Wild, Veilleux wanted me to thank the fans for how he’s been treated in his five seasons here. I’ll have more in Thursday’s paper.

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According to an NHL source, Flyers assistant coach Terry Murray will be named coach of the LA Kings this week.

Murray, who coached the Flyers to the 1997 Cup Finals, hasn’t been a head coach since he was fired by the Florida Panthers in December 2000.
Murray, the brother of Ottawa GM Bryan Murray, is technically superb, a good teacher and tremendous with the media, which is all that matters, eh?

Wild signed minor-leaguers Danny Irmen, Peter Olvecky, Corey Locke, Bryan Lundbohm and John Scott to one-year deals Tuesday. The Wild signed minor-league defenseman Brandon Rogers to a multi-year deal. Clayton Stoner is the only unsigned minor-league restricted free agent left, but it’s close. 

Wild UFA Joel Ward has signed with Nashville.

Things are quiet, and I’m readying for vacation. But I figured I’d check in.

Wild is busy working on its restricted free agents and getting ready to make Marian Gaborik a long-term extension offer, probably in the neighborhood of $8.5 million per season.

Another big thing to pay attention to is Pierre-Marc Bouchard. I’m not convinced the Wild wants to commit to him long-term at a price that would be equivalent to taking someone’s unrestricted free-agent status (he’s restricted this summer, but one summer from unrestricted free agency).

In other words, as the below quote from Doug Risebrough on June 13 seems to forecast, there’s no doubt the Wild has offered Bouchard a long-term deal. But if the offer isn’t substantial, I see Bouchard turning it down, the two working out a one-year deal before the July 28 arbitration date and then the Wild looking to continue trying to trade Bouchard for the rest of the summer and/or after Jan. 1.
(Here’s Risebrough’s quote from last month: “I’m interested in signing him long-term, but what I’m interested in doing and what he’s interested in doing might not be the same, and my number long-term and his number long-term might not be the same.”)

And you can guarantee it isn’t.

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