Before people start to ask “for what”, let’s back peddle a bit. Going into the trade deadline, it looked like we needed center depth- Pavol Demitra and Brian Rolston are better suited playing the wing, so to put one of those two essentially neuters their offensive capabilities. Well, so when you look at the team on paper, you would see what looked like a gaping hole on the top line, the missing meat of a Slovakian Sandwich. You had then Mikko Koivu and Eric Belanger (flip-flopping between Rolston and Bouchard, and Radivojevic and Veilleux), and then James Sheppard pivoting the 4th line.

So it made sense to look for an Olli Jokinen or a Sergei Federov.

Now, after the trade deadline past, and the Chris Simon fallout began, Doug Risebrough mentioned that not many centerman were dealt, and that the Wild could solve that problem “from within.” Of course, to many Minnesota fans, that wasn’t enough of a justification to the slight they felt by the lack of activity Tuesday. However, Risebrough is right; not so much about the lack of centers being moved, but that this issue is better served being solved in-house. In fact, you could almost go out and say that perhaps they were never in the market for a pivot, and that we, as Wild Nation, didn’t look hard enough at what we had.

It’s James Sheppard’s fault. Blame it on the kid.

When Sheppard made the team out of camp, the first teen to do it since Brent Burns in 2003, he was on pace for a slower development curve, almost an afterthought from a production standpoint. He’ll get about 8-10 minutes a game, 40-50 games a year; he’ll learn the ropes, and if he contributes? Great, consider it a bonus. No one could foresee the abdominal injury that sidelined Dominic Moore (the guy ahead of Sheppard on the depth chart) for an extended period of time, which essentially handed the 19 year old the 4th line gig. How did he respond? Well, Dominic Moore was put on waivers shortly after his return.

And he’s done nothing but improve ever since, to the point where Doug Risebrough was comfortable enough to make a move to acquire a pivot. Has the development curve been silky smooth? No, there was a few rough patches, although Sheppard’s been playing very well for the past 2 months; well enough to get rewarded with time centering guys like Gaborik and Demitra, and extended time with Rolston and Bouchard. Well enough for his coach Jacques Lemaire to rave about his subtle plays, his nifty little touch passes, and for many fans to go out and order #15 jerseys. Well enough for Minnesota to just roll with 3 centers last night. Well enough for someone in Houston to get a call-up and take over the 4th line.

And well enough to move up to where he can be counted on to not just play smart, but to become a contributor; last night in Tampa he played a career high 16 minutes, often with skilled linemates. He is making plays, whether getting a pass to the open guy, controlling the puck down low (impossible to knock off the puck along the wall), or bullrushing up the ice and getting a shot off; the goals will come, although I feel he’ll never be a prolific goal scorer. What he will be, much like the guy he watches and learns from (Mikko Koivu), is a rock solid-presence up the middle anywhere on the ice- he is very polished in all three zones. And he’s played well enough for his coach to say that he’s further along than his teacher (Koivu) was at 19.

Who needs to bring someone in, when you had an answer all along right in front of you?