September 28, 2008 The AP reports that Andrew Brunette's shootout goal gave the Minnesota Wild a 2-1 preseason win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night. Brunette, who tied the game with a goal with 2:57 left in regulation, scored on the Wild’s fourth attempt on Sabres goalie Patrick Lalime.
Our View:Brunette is one of the best players on the Wild and expects to do even better than he did last season with Colorado when he tallied 59 points, including 40 assists.
July 1, 2008 Andrew Brunette has played his last game for Colorado as he chose to sign a 3-year, $7 million deal to join the Minnesota Wild, according to TSN.
Our View:Brunette played for the Wild from 2001-04 before heading to Colorado for three years. Though he slumped to 18 goals last season, Brunette figures to see a lot of power-play time and could team with Marian Gaborik and newly acquired Marek Zidlicky to form one heck of a unit with the man advantage.
June 29, 2008 Andrew Brunette is believed to be interested in heading back to Minnesota to play for the Wild, according to the Star-Tribune. Brunette said, "I have nothing but great memories in Minnesota, and it's an organization that's real close to my heart and a place where I loved to play. I don't know what their interest level is. But if they're interested and it falls into place, if everything was comparable, if they were in range, definitely, that's one place I'd love to play."
Our View:Brunette averaged 68.3 points over his three seasons with the Avalanche, and averaged 54.6 over his three seasons with the Wild. He wants to rejoin Minnesota, but wouldn't hold as much fantasy value as he did during his tour of duty with Colorado, unless Brian Rolston doesn't come to an agreement to re-sign with the Wild.
