As Bill Guerin seeks veteran stability and durability, a reunion with the NHL’s reigning iron man could bolster the Wild’s blueline and bring a franchise icon home.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — On locker room cleanout day last week, General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin did not exactly hide what the Minnesota Wild need.
“The preference would be to get a natural center,” Guerin said Monday during the team’s end-of-season media availability.
There is no doubt that is the focus in the offseason. But the Wild also have to decide what to do on defense.
Zach Bogosian and Jeff Petry both played down the stretch for the Wild in the playoffs and are both veteran right-shot defenders.
Petry, 38, played in nine regular-season games and three playoff games.
Bogosian, 35, played in 41 regular-season games and nine of the 12 playoff games for the Wild. He battled injuries all year, but there is no doubt about how respected he is in the locker room and by the Wild front office.
But, as the old saying goes, sometimes the best ability is durability.
Which makes Brent Burns an intriguing option.
Burns, 41, is a rugged right-shot defenseman who has been in the NHL since 2003 after the Wild drafted him with the 20th overall pick in the 2003 NHL Draft.
In his 22nd NHL season after signing a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche, Burns joined Phil Kessel (1,064 games) as the only players in NHL history to play 1,000 consecutive games.
The 6-foot-5 defenseman has 273 goals, 672 assists and 945 points in 1,579 career NHL games.
He sits 14th all-time in NHL history for games played, and if he were to play another 82 games next season, Burns would sit 8th in NHL history with 1,661.
Why not bring him back to Minnesota, where it all started?
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