The Minnesota Wild made Marek Zidlicky a healthy scratch in Thursday night's shootout loss to the Winnipeg Jets. It seems that'll be the case going forward, too, at least until the NHL trade rumors currently swirling around the defenseman are turned into an actual transaction.
It seems there might be more to the story than initially planned on, however, as coach Mike Yeo alluded to some other issues with Zidlicky on Thursday night while talking the Star Tribune.
Yeo believes Zidlicky is not "all in" right now. Focus-wise, Yeo said, "I'm making an assumption that his head would not be in the right place to play this game."
"He would have to prove, just like every one of our players, that he's all in to what we want to do, and if you do that, and if you go out and show that night in and night, then absolutely," Yeo said. "Anybody who's here, we will treat them as part of the team. We will use every resource to be at our best every night."
If Yeo doesn't plan on playing Zidlicky, it seems a trade is all but imminent. It probably doesn't help his value, however, knowing that it's the coach -- and not the front office -- holding him out of the lineup.
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