Michael Russo (FULL INTERVIEW)

I remember when the Wild got Jacob Middleton out of San Jose.

I was thinking,

boy...

He'd be great in Calgary.

Just felt like a guy that would be a good Calgary flame.

And then he goes to Minnesota.

He is a Calgary flame now.

Not the same guy that left San Jose.

Not the same guy that

left San Jose, safe to say.

And I think just in reading your stuff and watching the playoffs last year, I think it was he and Bogosian that were paired up and did struggle.

And it's been a bit of a struggle for Middleton here as well.

Great guy.

but I don't think has turned into the, you know, the crash Davis to steal from bull Durham, kind of a, uh, kind of a force back there for any of the young defensemen.

What, what, what did the flames get and what do they have in Middleton? What'd you see down the stretch with him last year?

Well, they certainly got an energy guy.

I mean, a guy that's loved in that locker room, you know, and I think that's something that wild definitely lost.

He had a really, really tough post-season was on for a ton of penalty kill goals, power play goals for the other team and a ton of five on five goals.

I think he was on, for 13 or 14 or 15 goals in the playoffs, and it was a big, big talking point here.

I know he wasn't pleased that it was a talking point here, but he's mobile.

He's got a great shot.

A couple years ago, he had eight goals here.

For a while after he was traded here, he was an outstanding defenseman with Jared Spurgeon, and then slowly as the Wild got healthier or they added Quinn, suddenly his role started to depreciate a little bit.

I think Jake would probably still be here if the Wild signed Anders Lee.

But when Anders turned down, the Wild had to pivot quickly.