Wild bring in vet dman

[JiriHrdina]

For immediate release

The Wild are pleased to announce the acquisition of dman Mike Rathje.

Rathje arrives to the Twin Cities via a deal with the Hurricanes that sees prospect Andy Greene and forward Richard Park head to Carolina.

GM Grant commented.

"We are hoping Mike can solidify our final pairing and also help our PK which has been awful. Our team isn't clicking this year and I think part of the reason is we are a little too young. Hopefully bringing in an experienced guy like Mike will help.

Andy was a kid we scouted and signed 1.5 years ago and we like him a lot. But we have 2 or 3 kids down there that we think will be ready next season so we feel we could afford to give him up"

[HelloHockeyFans]

Interesting deal... isn't Rathje on long-term IR in the NHL?

[JiriHrdina]

yup. Good thing that doesn't matter in our league.

[Hanna Sniper]

Hurricanes look to call a press meeting with local press later tonight, but due to lack local interest in the 'Canes lately we'll save joe the trouble and meet him at his place later for a few pop's during the game

will comment on the past three Hurricanes deals

[HelloHockeyFans]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

yup. Good thing that doesn't matter in our league.

Ah, I assumed it might affect his ratings negatively like players who move on to Europe... that's a good trade then!

[JiriHrdina]

Basically he's a one year guy for me.
As for mid-season re-rates - well in the past the policy has been to not touch players a 74 or above at mid-season. Up or down.

[I wanna be like Miikka]

I like this deal for both guys, Rathje was useless on the Canes so they got a prospect and a filler type in Park. Grant gets a nice upgrade on D, brings depth to the team and he should have good ratings all year.

Overall I think it suits the needs on both teams.