Ducks Offseason

[Kgoku4]

ok for anyone who gives a hoot thought Id throw this up for anyone to toss any rumors they hear in, or provide feedback on moves the team makes or shouldnt make.

First things to note, Giggy and Moen are already under lock and key, and they extended Carlyle's contract. Thats 3 of major signings...
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[BtownJay]

Sadly for you, there are VERY few rumors out there about the Duckies. Other than the current count down until Bryzgalov (sp?) is traded. But the Ducks are really stuck right now until Teemu and Neidermeyer decide what they want to do. And hopefully they do that prior to the July 1st free agency period. The last thing the Ducks want is to lose out on good UFA's and then find out they much replace the two of them.

The Oilers are working hard to get Redden at this point... when talks with the Flyers about getting Pitkanen died down they turned their attention on him. But we don't know yet if Redden will waive his no trade clause.

[Kgoku4]

Originally Posted by BtownJay

Sadly for you, there are VERY few rumors out there about the Duckies. Other than the current count down until Bryzgalov (sp?) is traded. But the Ducks are really stuck right now until Teemu and Neidermeyer decide what they want to do. And hopefully they do that prior to the July 1st free agency period. The last thing the Ducks want is to lose out on good UFA's and then find out they much replace the two of them.

The Oilers are working hard to get Redden at this point... when talks with the Flyers about getting Pitkanen died down they turned their attention on him. But we don't know yet if Redden will waive his no trade clause.

Ultimately the Redden situation is going to be decided by Redden, because it will come down to him accepting a trade whichever teams end up the highest bidder. And if he is like most players, I dont foresee him accepting a trade to Edmonton, who is CLEARLY about to enter a period of reconstruction (Lupul didnt come out the way they expected when they got him from us, Sykora was a disappointment and they off Smyth, so basically they have JACK SQUAT past Hemsky......poor Hemsky). I have a feeling that if Scotty retires and the ducks come calling, Redden wouldnt turn down a chance to come to the team that stole the cup out from under him so easily, especially if he has Pronger and Beauchemin back there to make his job easier.

Me personally though? If we can draft a few promising young D men or trade Bryz off for a quality young dude (lets say maybe they find a way to bring Popovic or Sauer back).....I say put the mantle on Beauchemin's shoulder and ride out a D core with Jackman, Dipenta, Huskins, and Odonnel behind him. Im not a very big Odonnel fan, but he is a hard worker and if we lose Scotty we are going to need his leadership experitise, making him unmoveable. The only problem in that situation is our depth, so we would need to bring in young guys who can come in and step it up if hte need arises.

And after you do that, if Scotty and Teemu both go you have all that money to really go spend happy and bring in a superstar goal scorer to play with Andy Mac and probably Kunitz on our first line. All in all not a bad situation if Beauchemin can continue to prove that he isnt a fluke and is deserving of the 30 minutes a game he played in the playoffs.

[Kgoku4]

So our first big move (after Scotty did the classy thing and let Burke know that he is getting closer and closer to deciding to retire) is bringing in Mathieu Schneider. I dunno, I got mixed feelings about this one. Schneider is a hell of a player and has had a hell of a career, but at the age of 38 and coming off missing the round against us with a broken hand....was he REALLY the best option available out there? Personally I woulda cracked my pocketbook open a little bit more and maybe tried to toss out another 1 mil or so in Redden or hell even Rafalski over Schneider, and maybe tried to lock then down for a little longer. Both are very capable, skating 2 way D men who can create offense, and they are younger and arent coming off of fairly serious injuries. Or hell, who said we had to get a skating D man. Beauchemin is a very capable offensive D man....why not use him in that role and bring in a guy like Scott Hannan for about the same price?

I suppose though that maybe Schneider is a nice way to buy Beauchemin another year, year and a half to mature some more before assuming the kind of role he would have had to if we didnt find an experienced replacement for Scotty. Then perhaps during the 2nd year of Schneider's contract we can trade him to a team looking to add a missing element to a cup run and bring in some youth to improve ourselves some.

[BtownJay]

TSN.ca Staff
7/2/2007 7:19:59 PM
Todd Bertuzzi is re-uniting with Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke, signing a two-year deal with the Ducks.

Bertuzzi, 32, played in only 15 regular season games with the Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings last season because of a herniated disk in his back.
The 6-foot-3, 245-pound winger tallied 11 points in the regular season before adding four points in eight playoff games.

Bertuzzi scored a career-high 97 points with the Vancouver Canucks in 2002-2003, where Burke was the general manager, but has been unable to match that production since.


TSN : NHL - Canada's Sports Leader

[Kgoku4]

Yea I saw that a little while ago, and quite frankly its a stupid waste of 4 mil a year. Ive NEVER liked Bertuzzi's goonie behind, and lets face it, he road on the coattails of his line with Morrison and Naslund. All he is is a big body in front of the net, and we made a living of physical play in front of and around the net all year last year without him. All he is going to do is take a roster spot away from another younger player who could be of better value to us now and/or in the future.

Sure, if you stuck him on a line with Andy and Teemu he might have an impact, but why bother when Kunitz Andy and Teemu were arguably one of the most electric lines last year already, and when you have Penner Getzlaf and Perry....a line that has proven it can control the game physical in the offensive zone? Big, stupid waste of money by Burke.....thats 4 mil that could have been used to get a 40 goal scorer to replace Teemu in the event that he retires.