The Cupboard is Bare

The Wild have a history of rushing its younger players to the NHL and I think it has really hurt them from a development standpoint. Sure, Marian Gaborik, Brent Burns and Pierre-Marc Bouchard are all examples of young players succeeding at an early stage, but in recent years it has clearly hurt the maturation and development of James Sheppard and Colton Gilles.Gilles should have spent this entire season in AHL Houston. There he would've gotten a chance to play EVERY DAY and play big minutes every game. He would've had a chance to be a leader on that team, to skate on the first line, the power play unit and enhance his much-needed grit. But instead he's here, playing every third or fourth game, only about 12 minutes a night on the checking line. Can anyone honestly say that Colton Gilles has advanced significantly this season?Sheppard has also taken a step back in 2008-09. After a pretty good rookie season I expected him to become this team's second line center. Nope....