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FanHouse's Bruce Ciskie reports from Wild training camp.ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It's not terribly common for a player with 300 goals and plenty of gas in the tank to try out for a team. For Petr Sykora, there may have been a tryout, but it was extremely short and equally effective.
The veteran winger agreed Thursday to a one-year deal with the Minnesota Wild, just a couple days after word leaked that he was going to be in St. Paul for a tryout during training camp.
The Wild did not announce terms of the deal, but multiple reports place the value of the contract at $1.6 million, meaning the Wild will be up against the $56.8 million salary cap, and they may need to make a move (could be as simple as trading backup goalie Josh Harding or sending young forward Colton Gillies to the minors) to give the team flexibility as the season starts.
After the first of two practice sessions Thursday morning, Sykora said he was happy to get the deal done for this season.
"It's a relief," Sykora said. "Now I can just focus on getting better and getting ready for exhibition games. I didn't even have a scrimmage yet, so I kind of need to get into those situations as soon as possible. It's not a lot of time before the first game, so get ready as soon as possible."
Sykora is not in the lineup for Friday's preseason game against Columbus at XCel Energy Center. Considering he just signed with the team, this shouldn't be a surprise. However, Sykora does recognize the importance of ice time before the season opens Oct. 3 at Columbus.
"I want to get on the ice and get into situations. It's not about scoring," Sykora said Thursday. "It's about getting used to being in traffic, getting hit a little bit, stuff like that. Like I said, I missed those three scrimmages where you kind of get the feel of it. I just want to get out there, get the feel of the game. You know, it never took me a long time, so I should be ready."
Wild head coach Todd Richards is also happy to have the deal done.
"We're excited to have him," Richards said. "We're always looking to make our team better, our organization better. By getting Petr here, he's made our team better."
Richards made it clear Thursday that he was going to ease veteran players into action. Owen Nolan, Andrew Brunette, Kim Johnsson, and free-agent signee Martin Havlat join Sykora in not playing Friday night, and while Richards wants to get them all into preseason games, he also wants to get them some rest and limit their travel along the way. The Wild play 14 games in October, and only five of them are at home.
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