Cement-Head Love.

The Wild have signed Andrei Nazarov. With Matt Johnson out of action (and his contract bought out), and admitting that his slugger shoulder wouldn't be up to the task, the Wild needed a tough guy at left wing. Nazarov has size and toughness, but he's no hockey player. Not that Johnson was a some kind of Steve Yzerman, but he did have 7 goals, one assist, and was +4 in the last full season.

Nazarov is a journeyman enforcer, but in my analysis, was often the kind of dirty player that made you keep a Matt Johnson on your team. So far, the Wild haven't had a Peter Worrell, Reed Low, or Jody Shelley type; guys who just skate around crashing into things. Nazarov might be that, or, possibly, could he be schooled in productive offence by Lamaire? I dunno.

I had expected Derek Boogaard to move up fro Houston. Perhaps the team is hedging their bets by having two players available in camp to see who emerges. There's a reason Doug Risebrough is the GM and not me. We'll see what Andrei can do, but so far, I'm having a hard time warming up to out new wrecking ball.