[sureLoss]

Seeing as the "interview period" has begun and there was some tension about free agency news showing up in the rumor thread:


http://www.startribune.com/sports/bl...gTizZm2eeQI.97

As I wrote in Wednesday's paper, the Wild will be in contact with Steve Bartlett, the agent of Thomas Vanek. However, I also hear the Wild has significant interest in Paul Stastny if he gets to free agency (like many teams) and Matt Niskanen.

Stastny and Niskanen will command lucrative, long-term deals, so there's no way the Wild would be able to land both.

Vanek will also be seeking a long-term deal, but if he wants to play in Minnesota, he might have to settle for a short-term deal. If he would agree to that, that would allow the Wild to also go after Niskanen. If the Wild opts to go hard after Niskanen, I believe he'll sign here.

The good part of the interview period is Fletcher will get to learn in advance of free agency whether Vanek would ever entertain such a thing. If not, he can react.

This is all also barring a significant trade at the draft. Basically, what happens in the next week is up in the air because one thing will always affect the next.

I wrote this in Wednesday's paper, but I asked Bartlett if Vanek would agree to a short-term deal, especially after Vanek turned down lucrative offers from the Islanders and Sabres.

“I don’t think we’re absolutely entrenched on anything," Bartlett said. "Vanek is a very confident guy, somebody that is, I think, going to look at everything – the financial side, the family side, the team side.