Marion Garorik – Superstar or Hindrance

There is no doubt that Marion Gaborik is one of the fastest and most talented players in all of the NHL. Very few players can match his puck handling skills and only a handful of players in the NHL is as fast as Gaborik. Currently Gaborik is in a long contract negotiation with the Minnesota Wild where he is asking to be paid the highest salary in the NHL. When healthy, Gaborik probably deserves a contract that is as high as any in the NHL, however, that is the key problem in all of this.

In his 6 years as a professional Marion Gaborik has rarely been healthy as NHL player. This year in his contract negotiation year, he has been hampered with a severe grin pull and has only been on the ice a handful of times. Worst yet when he has been on the ice, quite simply he has not been that productive. Meanwhile the Minnesota Wild continue to have a successful season without Gaborik’s presence. This begs the question do the Minnesota need Marion Gaborik to win a Stanley Cup championship. With his firepower in the lineup the Wild command a different type of respect than when he is not in the lineup. One thing is for sure as Gaborik struggles with his health the Wild have much less incentive to offer a big contract and Gaborik’s trade value plummets. It will be interesting to see if the Wild package up Gaborik by the trade deadline or simply reduce the contract to the superstar and force him to move or take a lesser contract price.