The Obligatory Marian Gaborik Contract Talk Post

Marian Gaborik (and by Marian Gaborik I of course mean Marian Gaborik's agent, Ron Salcer) is currently in talks with Wild management about a contract extension.

Trying to sign Marian Gaborik to a contract extension is generally the same experience - a painful, long process that has huge ups and downs and that no one knows how it's going to end. Except Marian Gaborik.

I've been avoiding talking about it too much on the blog because 1) I've talked about it way too much already on the podcasts and to other fans, 2) I have no idea how it's going to turn out, 3) this entire situation is just really annoying.

But here's the thing: I don't even know how I want it to turn out.

The pros and cons of Gaborik can be debated forever. Yes, he has huge offensive upside. No, he doesn't try all the time. Yes, he isn't a huge fan of coach Jacques Lemaire's system. No, he hasn't said that he wants to stay in Minnesota.

But when everything is balanced out, which way does the scale tip?

We can keep trying to sign him and risk losing him; we can trade him and try to get some quality talent in return. There's plenty of options but who knows what the right choice is.

(x-posted to 18,568 Reasons Why)