One Hundred Days … This is how long the NHL lockout will last if both parties, franchise owners and the players union, don’t reach an agreement in a few more weeks. The lockout began about a month before the scheduled preseason opening with the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). And since then, we’ve been deprived of more than a third of the season (422 regular games), including the annual Hall of Fame game, the Thanksgiving Showdown, the Winter Classic, and All-Star weekend. . How much longer do we have to wait?
While you may find some Minnesota Wild players playing for their AHL affiliate the Houston Eros, such as Jason Zucker and Kris Foucault, in the Euro Leagues, such as Nicklas Backstrom playing for KHL’s Dynamo Moscow, or not playing at all, There is this one player taking a slightly different approach. It’s Half-Yonsei right winger Devin Setoguchi.
“The Gooch,” as his teammates sometimes call him, recently signed a deal with LA Kings affiliate Ontario Reign. While the ECHL is not a popular choice for blocked players, being two rungs down from the NHL and avoiding having to take someone else’s spot on any team’s roster, he really had no difficulty signing the contract as The Reign’s first NHL player.
Even though you play with acquaintances, friends, and former opponents, is this reason enough to join the ECHL? Yes, they are a very close-knit team as they know each other, but in a league that is quite physical, you can’t help but wonder how many low shots could be aimed at you, being an absolutely big fish in a guppy aquarium. Even if he was named the star player after his first game with the Reign by virtue of his two assists, the question remains whether he can keep his level of play to NHL standards while awaiting the current shutdown. While any kind of playtime is better than nothing, is it really worth it?
The Wild has positioned itself for a possible resurgence with the signing of free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. This definitely strengthens the current roster and it will be exciting to see how we finally hit the Xcel Energy Arena line. But for such a resurgence to occur, the entire current roster must be in top form to compete. Whether or not Seto’s renewed sense of responsibility could determine the fate of the Wildlings, it would be best for the team if he kept his level of play as high as possible without lowering it just for the sake of being able to. play.
