Minnesota Wild Re-Sign Center Kyle Brodziak

The Minnesota Wild have re-signed center Kyle Brodziak to a three-year deal.

Brodziak, in his third year with Minnesota after being acquired from Edmonton in 2009, was due to become an unrestricted free agent.

Brodziak is in the final year of a three-year contract that will pay him $1.3 million this season.

Minnesota Wild Playoff Race

The NHL trade deadline is less than 2 weeks away and the Minnesota Wild are trying to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race. The Wild were handicapped by a 7-game losing streak, during which they managed to gain only 2 out of 12 possible points.

Teams like Calgary, Colorado and Dallas all jumped Minnesota in the standings during the losing streak. Teams like the Anaheim Ducks came very close, despite their abysmal start.

In order to win upcoming games and stay in the playoff race, the Wild need to make a change to the product on the ice. More call-ups from within the organization are not the answer. Some players must be traded from the roster in order to light some kind of a fire under the seemingly lackadaisical team.

Minnesota Swarm at the Xcel Energy Center

It is rare we shed light on the happenings of the Swarm, Minnesota's Lacrosse team. We will for this post, though, because they are on a win streak, unlike the Minnesota Wild.

On Friday the Swarm took over the Xcel in a game where they overwhelmed the Edmonton Rush 10-9. Following the win, Evan Kirk made 46 saves in his National Lacrosse League debut to power the Swarm to a 9-6 win over the Rochester Knighthawks on Sunday!

Minnesota is now sitting at 3-2 after winning their second game in three days. The win over the Knighthawks snapped a five-game losing streak that Rochester had over Minnesota.

I've never been to a swarm game, but I have a coworker who finds the games to be a ton of fun and fan-friendly. Not to mention, she said the Swarm roster is quite attractive! I'm making it my goal to go and check a game out before the season wraps up... who know's, maybe I'll meet Mr. Lacrosse.

Minnesota Wild Columbus Blue Jackets Game Review

R.J. Umberger scored a pair of goals, leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center. Ook... Wild, what is the game plan here? As you may recall, the Wild were at one point the leaders of the Western Conference. Take a look at the current standings:

1. Detroit
2. Vancouver
3. San Jose
4. St. Louis
5. Nashville
6. Chicago
7. Los Angeles
8. Phoenix
9. Calgary
10. Colorado
11. Dallas
12. Minnesota

This is completely not what Wild fans were hoping for.

Anyway, back to the game story. Devin Setoguchi scored for the Wild, while Niklas Backstrom earned 16 saves en route to the Wild's fourth straight loss.

Backstrom spoke out on the loss, "It sucks every time you lose. Winning is obviously more fun, but at least tonight we gave ourselves a chance to win." I hate to argue semantics, but losing 3-1 doesn't seem as though there was much of a chance. Maybe you had to be there?

Was anyone at the Wild Blue Jackets game that wants to fill me in? Leave a comment!

Minnesota Wild Upcoming Games

There isn't a whole lot of Minnesota Wild news lately so here is just an schedule refresher!

2/7 - Wild @ Blue Jackets

2/9 - Wild v Canucks

2/11 - Wild v Blue Jackets

2/14 - Wild v Ducks

2/16 - Wild v Jets

Nate Prosser Gets Extension

The Minnesota Wild announced today that they have signed defenseman Nate Prosser to a two-year contract extension.

The 25-year-old Prosser has six assists in 23 games for the Wild this season. The Wild are 14-7-2 with the rookie in the lineup, and coach Mike Yeo has praised Prosser's poise and ability to adapt to the new style of play.

Prosser's extension will kick in next season.

Wild Top Avalanche

In a particularly dry winter, with barely any accumulation on the ground, it seems fitting that the Wild stop the Avalanche before they can start.

Backstrom had 37 saves for his third shutout of the season and 25th of his NHL career as the Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 in Denver.

Greg Zanon played the hero for the wild, scoring the winning goal with 13:56 left in the first period. The goal, only Zanon's second of the season, came off an icing by Colorado. Kyle Brodziak won the faceoff to Dany Heatley, who slid the puck to Zanon. Zanon skated through the center of the zone before nailing the goal.

Colorado didn't go away easy. The Avalanche recorded 17 shots in the final frame. Ryan Wilson hit the post with 15 minutes left when Colorado was swarming the Minnesota end.

The Wild needed a win, coming off a couple shocks in recent games. Hopefully they can start stringing together wins again.

Wild Get Erik Christensen From Rangers

The NHL trade deadline is still more than three weeks away - which in professional sports time is like, a lifetime - but the Rangers made a minor deal Friday morning, sending center Erik Christensen to the Minnesota Wild for 24-year-old center Casey Wellman. The Wild will also receive a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2013 in the trade.

Christensen is a highly-skilled-yet-inconsistent center, which seems to be the theme of the Wild lately (at least the inconsistent part). Christensen has not played for the Rangers yet this calendar year, his last minutes coming back on December 17. He has appeared in only 20 games total this season.

Wellman will report to the Rangers' minor league team, the Connecticut Whale.