TORONTO - You can’t really blame Doug Risebrough. He tried. Several times. Unfortunately, he came up empty.

The Minnesota Wild general manager and his management staff have gone back and forth with agent Ron Salcer in hopes of signing star winger Marian Gaborik to a long-term contract extension.

The Wild pitched a number of offers Gaborik’s way, but they were all tossed back. The 26-year-old appears set on either leaving the club via free agency next summer. He wants to explore his options.

Risebrough is willing to pay more than $8 million per year on a seven- to 10-year contract, but the market says Gaborik could earn more via free agency, and that’s something the Wild isn’t able to compete with.

In fact, various reports suggest Gaborik could earn more than $9.5 million on a new deal if he hits the open market July 1, 2009.

Risebrough and Salcer have stopped talking. It’s been just over two weeks since the two last discussed a new contract. They both confirmed over the weekend that talks have hit a brick wall.

As it stands, the Wild is trying to trade Gaborik, or at the very least get a better idea of his value.

The Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers are all reportedly interested in Gaborik.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Risebrough has already spoken with Habs GM Bob Gainey and Kings GM Dean Lombardi.

The paper also reports the Wild offered Gaborik to an unidentified team over the weekend, but the deal was rejected.

Any club interested in acquiring Gaborik will surely want to speak with Salcer before agreeing to a trade. They’ll want some kind of assurance that Gaborik would be interested in signing a long-term deal with their team if they are to pay a king’s ransom.

The Wild is supposedly interested in Montreal sniper Chris Higgins and top defensive prospect Ryan McDonagh, who was drafted 12th overall in 2007. From the Kings, Minnesota might request Dustin Brown or Alexander Frolov be packaged in a multi-player trade.

There are a number of options available to Risebrough and the Wild, as there will definitely be more teams calling in the coming weeks.

With the Wild already entertaining offers and having discussions with other teams, it looks like they’ll want this matter resolved, one way or another, in the near future.

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