July 3, 2008 | 12:50am ET
Wild tried to sign Hossa TheFourthPeriod.com
The Wild tried very hard to lure Marian Hossa to their team and star forward Marian Gaborik even spent time with him in their native Slovakia, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Gaborik had coffee with Hossa on Tuesday and Wednesday, and even arranged a phone call with Wild GM Doug Risebrough, the paper claims, but Hossa decided to sign with the Detroit Red Wings.
According to the Star-Tribune, the Wild offered a long-term deal worth more than $8 million per season.
"They made him a very significant offer," Hossa's agent, Ritch Winter, told the paper. "It's not really an insult to anybody. Marian had a good, long talk with Doug, but this was an opportunity to play for one of the greatest teams ever assembled.
"If we did a deal with Minnesota or any of the other teams interested, it wasn't like we could go back to this perfect storm later. It just was too attractive to turn down. I've never seen a player turn down so much money from so many teams and be this excited about it. It says a lot about him."
The Montreal Canadiens reportedly offered a long-term deal worth around $8 million per season, while the Edmonton Oilers supposedly offered a nine-year, $81 million deal.
"[Hossa] had a lot of options and he chose an option that was different than a lot of people would think [one-year deal], but it shows players aren't just looking for one thing -- money," Risebrough told the Star-Tribune.
The Wild are now believed to be focused on Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison, and have tabled offered to both players.
