The saga took quite a turn last week as Gaborik injured his leg playing soccer hacky sack with his teammates. He has sat out the Wild's last two games with the injury. Gaborik is a very talented offensive performer who cannot stay healthy for very long.

These are his stats since coming into the NHL:
GP G A P +/- PIM
2000 MIN 71 18 18 36 -6 32
2001 MIN 78 30 37 67 0 34
2002 MIN 81 30 35 65 12 46
2003 MIN 65 18 22 40 10 20
2005 MIN 65 38 28 66 6 64
2006 MIN 48 30 27 57 12 40
2007 MIN 77 42 41 83 17 63

As you can see, his best year was last season as he only missed five games with injuries. He has had serious groin problems throughout his career, especially the two seasons after the lockout when he missed a total of 51 games in those two years.

With his contract year looming, Gaborik had a quadriceps injury in training camp and now the most unusual 'hacky sack' ailment. Perhaps Gaborik should just grab the money that the Wild have put on the table. We suggest the Wild pull the offer off the table and trade him near the trade deadline if they see that they don't have a chance to go for the Stanley Cup.

Gaborik seems like he is on the verge of another injury. It's something that the Wild shouldn't need to worry about in future years.