Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi ready to turn Minnesota Wild team upside down –NHL offseason Update
Minnesota is certainly one of the, if not the biggest state that is hockey crazy, and the opportunity that Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi now have, is a rare one, not only to turn themselves into legends, but also turn the whole franchise upside down.
Minnesota Wild ended the previous regular season in the lower ranks, number 12 in the Western Conference, but now all that is about to change. During the free agency, veteran left winger, Dany Heatley, and young forward, Devin Setoguchi, were acquired by
Minnesota in trades with San Jose Sharks, which were obviously a win situation for Wild.
Both Heatley and Setoguchi were some of San Jose’s top scorers and the level of game that they play will certainly boost the franchise into the top spots when the new 2011-2012 season starts in October.
Second overall pick of the 2000 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft by Atlanta Thrashers, Dany Heatley, has scored 50 plus points every season, for the last eight out of nine seasons that he has been playing.
The Freiburg, Germany, native, has played with Atlanta Thrashers, Ottawa Senators and most recently San Jose Sharks, with which he scored 64 points (26 goals, 38 assists) last season in 80 games.
"I've always been a goal-scorer. I've put up numbers", Heatley said, when asked about his future in Minnesota. "I think that's what I'm expected to do here. I think Seto and I can bring that to this team".
With a player like Devin Setoguchi added to the mix, Minnesota will easily achieve much more than previously expected. An eighth overall pick during the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by San Jose Sharks, Setoguchi has spent all four seasons of his career playing for
his original draft team.
The 24-year-olds best season came during 2008-2009 when he scored 65 points (31 goals, 34 assists) in 81 games played. Last season, the Taber, Alberta, Canada native, put up 41 points (22 goals, 19 assists) in 72 matchups. During the playoffs, as he helped
lead his team to the Western Conference Finals against Vancouver Canucks, Setoguchi ranked ninth in goals scored with nine.
"I think it’s good that I get a chance to come here with Dany", Setoguchi said. "I heard him just say before he had a little bit of a down year last year. I never heard of someone scoring 26 goals having a down year. That’s kind of hard to do. In his standards,
he wants to score 50 every year. So it’s going to make the transition a lot easier coming here with him".
Minnesota expects to see an immediate boost as both players feel comfortable with their new team. It is just a matter of time when Wild reaches the top spots in the West and makes it to their first postseason series in over two years.
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