"Looking for blue-line insurance with Nick Schultz, Greg Zanon and Marek Zidlicky the only veterans left, the Wild signed Burnsville native Mike Lundin to a one-year, $1 million this afternoon.

If you remember from the July 2 editions, the Wild inquired about the Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman on the first day of free agency, July 1. But at that point, the Wild was keeping all flexibility when it came to roster space and Lundin was looking for longer term.

But the Wild ultimately came calling again, and despite a few other options, Lundin signed with his hometown team. As an Apple Valley High defenseman, Lundin was a finalist for the 2003 Mr Hockey Minnesota Award.

"This is a dream come true," said Lundin, who lives in Lakeville with his wife, Shelly, and 9-month-old son, Finn.

He said he didn't let his dad, Jeff, mom, Kathy, brother, Matt, and sister, Melissa, in on the news until real late "until it was a for-sure sure thing. I didn't want to send any false alarms."

Lundin, 26, is a mobile defenseman whom Lightning coach Guy Boucher often called a "mistake-free" defenseman last year. He was a solid top-4 D for Tampa last year, averaging 20:24 a game in the regular season.

Because of that, the Lightning, in need of cap space, didn't qualify him as a restricted free agent because it was worried about his potential arbitration award, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman said. He would have easily won in arbitration and earned well more than $1 million based on ice time alone."