Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher put the warning out fairly early in the summer that contracts would not mean anything and that players would need to play for their spot on the roster. The initial and collective reaction from the State of Hockey was pretty much I’ll believe it when I see it. Fast-forward to yesterday and we saw it. The demotion of Tyler Graovac to Iowa proves that mantra to be gospel, as it was widely expected that he would make the team partially because of his contract situation.
Additionally, the new philosophy of Head Coach Bruce Boudreau has made it clear that no one is immune to having to play hard and produce if they want to continue to be in the lineup.