Jesse Pierce

And so the big risk to me would be, obviously, you spent a first-round draft pick and developed this kid in Jesper Volstead into what looks like a very, very good NHL goalie.

Are you willing to throw that out there as a chip at trade deadline and risk that now you just have one guy that has yet to take you where you need to go?

Big risk, right?

And Billy Guerin gets paid the big money for making those big decisions, but it's a tough, tough call.

I believe the Wilder are a better team with that one-two tandem, but

You can only play one guy, Jess.

And if you got a guy that you believe in and you can get a frontline center, a guy like Robert Thomas, who plays in St.

Louis, that might be tempting for the wild.

I think he's fantastic.

Well, the thing is,

Again, Trochek's a nice player, and he showed that as a part of the gold medal push that culminated yesterday.

But he's a lot older.

He's in his 30s, where Robert Thomas is in his mid-20s, and he's got a lot more tread on that tire.

Right-handed shot, centerman, face-off guy, power play guy.

There's a lot to like about Thomas.

But, man, I'm telling you, this team might be good enough

the way they are right now.

They just might be when they're healthy.

If Hartman's going to play like he did last year in the playoffs and you've got Eck going and now Yurov is taking, certainly from what we saw in training camp to where we are right now, ready for the stretch run.

He's a completely different hockey player.