JP Hoornstra 
Anaheim Ducks Correspondent
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Written by JP_Hoornstra
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Wednesday, July 2 2008 |
I wasn't erroneous, but I was misleading, in my last blog describing the Ducks' salary-cap space issues. I made it sound like they'd have to move someone in order to fit Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry under the salary cap. Eventually, yes, they probably would. Just not right now.
For the reason why, let's turn to David McNab. The son of NHL lifer Max McNab (rest in peace) David does the books for the Ducks. Others guess what's going in the Ducks' books, while David McNab writes the numbers down in ink, reports them to the NHL, and tells Brian Burke when a contract will fit and when it won't. So I caught up with him after rookie conditioning drills at a rink in downtown Anaheim for some clarification ...
"Well, there's two caps: The summer cap and the regular-season cap. You're allowed to go 10 percent over the cap [$56.7+ $5.67 = $62.37] during the summer, so we're not really worried about it. We're still $6 million away from the summer cap. The [$56.7 million] salary cap doesn't start until the actual first day of the regular season. If the season would start today, we'd be quite close, but you do things during the summer knowing you still have quite a bit of time to make adjustments If we're still $6 million away from what is considered the salary cap today."
J.P. Hoornstra
Anaheim Ducks correspondent
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Written by JP_Hoornstra
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Tuesday, July 1 2008 |
Everyone's waiting for word from Teemu Selanne, who is supposedly in Finland (although Brian Burke has repeatedly referred the media to check the side of a milk carton). One rumor has him signing with Montreal, although the prevailing wisdom is that it's the Ducks or retirement. Waiving Todd Bertuzzi was done with one eye toward Selanne, who is no longer under contract as of midnight. The team will have close to $6 million in cap room to play with; an exact figure hadn't been nailed down the last time I spoke with assistant GM David McNab. Of course, the Ducks are also looking to sign Corey Perry first.
**UPDATE: Corey Perry has signed for five years, $26.625 million.**
Doug Weight is a free agent. The "Selke Candidate" will not be re-signed.
That still leaves Drew Miller, Jason King, Stephen Dixon and Geoff Platt on the chopping block; all of them had been tendered qualifying offers, making them restricted free agents. How much interest the Ducks and the other 29 teams have in these players -- who, with the exception of Dixon, shuttled between the NHL and AHL last year -- will be learned in no fewer than three hours.
And it's worth noting that GM Brian Burke said the other day he may not be done making moves to clear cap room. As mentioned before, no news on this front as of yet.
So, here's the big picture:
The Ducks have six good-to-great NHL defensemen under contract.
They have enough forwards under contract to fill a third and fourth line.
They have three good NHL top-6 forwards under contract (Kunitz, Getzlaf, and now Perry) as well as Bobby Ryan, whom Burke considers a top-6 forward.
That leaves the team in need of a second-line center as well as a second-line winger. If Selanne signs, you can cross the second-line winger off the list. Is $6 million enough to squeeze both Perry and Selanne under the cap? Maybe. But unless both players are willing to sign for some kind of discount, you'd have close to no money left. The Ducks would have to make one more move if they think Selanne is willing to sign -- and Burke has said (quite loudly, I might add) that it's anyone's guess what Selanne wants to do. He's been incommunicado, as they say in Helsinki.
How long do they wait for an answer from Selanne? Are they waiting for an answer?
More likely, Plan A involves a trade. Burke said last week, with respect to acquiring those two much-needed forwards, "we might have to do this the old-fashioned way" -- meaning via trade. Chris Pronger, J-S Giguere and Scott Niedermayer are untouchable; Getzlaf, Perry and Kunitz are damn close; and anyone else could be dangled as trade bait to improve the second line. The running theories involve trading any one of the team's bottom 4 defensemen -- Mathieu Schneider, Kent Huskins, Sean O'Donnell and Francois Beauchemin -- with someone from the AHL level stepping up to take their place. The team's recent draft picks are also in play.
Plan B involves buying out another contract, similar to what they did with Bertuzzi last week. Again, you're looking at a bottom-4 defenseman as the most likely candidate here.
Plan C probably involves pitting veteran minor-leaguer Andrew Ebbett (who made a guest NHL appearance late last season as a second-line center) against Ryan Carter (signed through 2011) in training camp; winner centers the second line, loser centers the fourth. The remaining cap money goes to acquiring the winger. This route is the easiest, and the least sexy.
What will they do in Anaheim? The clock is ticking ...Be the first to comment on this blog | Add to your favorites (2) | Quote this blog on your site |
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Written by JP_Hoornstra
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Saturday, June 28 2008 |
My roommate is a Michigan native and a serious Red Wings fan; anyone who dons the red sweater is gold in his eyes. Except for Todd Bertuzzi. "I didn't even like him when he was a Wing," was his response whenever I mentioned Bertuzzi around the apartment. I think the sentiment is pretty universal.
So my heart goes out to Bertuzzi, who cleared waivers today, even though the Ducks will be paying him $1.3 million over the course of this season NOT to play for them. Because of the Steve Moore incident, he CAN'T possibly sign with the Avalanche. Everything else is a possibility, but there's not a single hockey market in North America, save possibly Vancouver, that won't take SOME amount of time to warm to him wearing their jersey.
Bertuzzi obviously wasn't worth $4 million to the Ducks, and Brian Burke conceded as much by placing him on waivers Friday. The GM is still clinging to the notion that Bertuzzi could be a productive player somewhere in the league, but he'll have to rebound from a bad season first. 40 points isn't going to cut it on a good team, unless it's in a third-line role. Having interviewed him several times, it pains me to say this: Todd Bertuzzi strikes me as a good human being.
My bet: Toronto signs him to a 2-year deal in the $1-2 million range, knowing he's a "Brian Burke type of player," to go along with their painfully obvious "Brian Burke type of coach" and their "Brian Burke type of director of player personnel."
J.P. Hoornstra
Anaheim Ducks correspondent
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Written by JP_Hoornstra
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Friday, June 20 2008 |
So after all that, the Ducks leave the first round with Jake Gardiner, a converted 6-foot, 173-pound defenseman, at the 17th pick. Central scouting had him at No. 23, so you could consider him a bit of a reach, but here's the reports:
NHL Central Scouting's Jack Barzee:
"Jake's biggest attribute is that he might be one of the best skaters in the draft - he is just a pure skater. He used to be a forward and they made him a defensemen a few years ago and he loves being a defenseman. He is smart with the puck, unselfish and he's careful. He is another one that has grown all year, I had him measured at 6'0" - he might be almost 6'2" and that's been not even a year. He's a greyhound right now, wiry, but he'll fill out. He is dynamic when he grabs the puck and goes. He has a very quick dangerous wrist shot - he gets it away like Joe Sakic does. The dimension of his quickness fools goalies. I liken him to Brett Hedican when he was in high school but maybe a little more polished. He's an easy player to like."
Minnetonka head coach Brian Urick:
"Making the switch from playing forward to defenseman really helped Jake improve as a player. He makes a better defenseman because of his experience playing as a forward. Jake has an uncanny ability to read plays and this helps him see the ice in a different way."
They ended up trading the 28th overall pick to Phoenix for the 35th and 38th overall picks, in the second round tomorrow. A little anticlimactic, but there it is, a first round with a trade-to-actual player ratio of 2:1.Be the first to comment on this blog | Add to your favorites (3) | Quote this blog on your site |
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