They just didn't expect that day to come this season.

"As soon as we picked him, people asked me if he was going to play (this year) and I said more than likely he would not," Wild GM Doug Risebrough told SportsLine.com in an interview. "I felt we had to put the brakes on him and just see if he was ready.

"But he's worked hard, and our theory is that if you work hard, you get a chance to play."

Marian Gaborik has been one of Minnesota's biggest offensive threats this season.(AP)

And play well. Lining up on right wing alongside veterans Jim Dowd and Scott Pellerin, Gaborik has become one of the most talked-about rookies in the league, scoring four times in his first nine games, while leading the expansion Wild with 24 shots on goal. He has also posted a plus-2 rating, one of only three Minnesota players on the positive side of the ledger.

If that weren't enough, the 18-year-old rookie has also earned himself a permanent place in team history by scoring its first goal in pre-season competition, its first goal in regular-season play, and most important, its first winning goal ever.

"I don't know about those kinds of things," said Gaborik, who speaks English haltingly. "I just want to do whatever I can to help the team win."

It's that kind of attitude that impressed his bosses and helped land the youngster a roster spot earlier than expected.

Gaborik arrived at Minnesota's training camp in September with a reputation for being a highly-skilled offensive player, whose main handicap was limited experience playing in North American arenas where the ice surfaces are smaller and have a center red line. The need to adjust was so great that Wild coach Jacques Lemaire doubted whether the youngster could do so in time to be with the team when it began play in its first season.

"He was offside on nearly every play, and he was used to staying near the blueline in the neutral zone," Lemaire said. "He didn't know at all about the defensive game and I thought if he doesn't learn what to do in his own end he just can't play because other guys will take advantage of that."

Fortunately for the six-foot-one, 183-pounder, he was breaking into the NHL under a coach who enjoys nothing better than teaching the game to youngsters. And the rookie was a willing student.

"(Lemaire) talked to me and told me what I had to do and it didn't seem so difficult," Gaborik said. "In this league, things are very fast so I have to play defense first and then I can go on offense."

Which is what comes naturally to Gaborik by all accounts.

Growing up in the city of Trencin, which has produced such NHL snipers as Ziggy Palffy of the Kings, Pavol Demitra of the Blues and Miroslav Satan of Buffalo, Gaborik first caught the eyes of NHL scouts two years ago when he lit up the ice during the World Junior Championships in Winnipeg. Particularly impressive was his explosive skating ability and his penchant for beating opponents one-on-one.

"He has all the tools to be dynamic," one scout gushed after watching him play.

Gaborik was offered a chance to play major junior hockey in Canada the following season, but turned it down in order to remain in his homeland and play in its elite senior league .

"I thought it would be better for me to stay home and to play in the Slovakian league," he said. "It is a very good place to learn."

Suiting up for Dukla, Gaborik ended up third on the team in scoring with 25 goals and 22 assists in 50 games. Included in that total was a five-goal night while on a line with Satan, who played in Slovakia during his early-season holdout from the Sabres.

"It's great to play with great players like that," he said.

Ironically, as productive as Gaborik was in the elite league, some scouts began to view him as inconsistent and developed second thoughts as the season wore on. When the final pre-draft Central Scouting Bureau rankings appeared, Gaborik was dropped to No. 4 among Europeans from the No. 2 position he held at mid-season.

Risebrough, though, wasn't concerned.

"Kids who are really good in their underage year really fall under close scrutiny in their draft year, " Risebrough said. "I felt that there was probably more criticism directed at him that there should have been."

Gaborik agreed.

"The important thing was to get drafted," he said. "I'm very happy Minnesota picked me and gave me a chance. Now I have to play hard and help this team get better."