June 2008 Archives
There have been no 11th-hour deals by the Ducks (a la the Kings trading Lubomir Viznofsky last night to the Oilers) on the eve of the NHL free agency period. But since free agency begins at midnight, we haven't technically hit the 11th hour yet, have we?
Continue reading The Ducks' free-agent front: 'No news' is 'no news.'.
Todd Bertuzzi is no longer a Duck.
After a disappointing season, the Ducks have decided to buy out the remainder of Bertuzzi's 2-year, $8 million contract. Word is they'll take a cap hit of $1.3 million next year and if anyone is slow to say that's worth it, it's GM Brian Burke, Bertuzzi's staunchest ally among NHL front offices.
The highlights of Scott Niedermayer's conference call with the national media today...
Continue reading More Scott Niedermayer..
He'll play out the remainder of his contract, the Ducks announced today. Unconfirmed reports had him meeting with GM Brian Burke this morning to announce his decision. Niedermayer will speak on a conference call at 1 p.m. this afternoon.
Because Henry Samueli admitted in federal court Monday to participating in the illegal backdating of stock options with Broadcom Corp., Gary Bettman suspended the Ducks' owner indefinitely today.
The long-term outlook seems mixed.
Continue reading Henry Samueli suspended indefinitely..
Ducks GM Brian Burke spoke with season-ticket holders at Honda Center after the draft and apparently was asked about the Toronto Maple Leafs rumors. His response, which I believe is the most concrete response he's given yet: "It comes down to what's best for his family."
Burke, of course, has children from a previous marriage living on the East Coast and his wife, Jennifer, was a TV personality in Vancouver before she was released from that job about a month ago. Neither of these places are close to Anaheim.
...traded. To Phoenix.
In what has to be the longest first round of any NHL draft in history, the Ducks traded to acquire the third-to-last pick, only to trade it for two second-round picks, Nos. 35 and 38 overall. A bit anticlimactic, but they walk away with Jake Gardiner and two more picks than they had yesterday.
An interview with Jake Gardiner can be found here.
Ducks take Jake Gardiner, a converted 6-foot, 173-pound defenseman, with the 17th pick. Central scouting had him at No. 23, so you could consider him a bit of a reach, but here's the scouting 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." "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." |
From cbc.ca: Calgary gets Mike Mike Cammalleri from the Kings, Calgary gets the Ducks' 12th overall pick and the Ducks pick up the 17th selection from the Flames and the 28th from the Kings. Five first-round picks are in: Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay), Drew Doughty (L.A.), Zach Bogosian (Atlanta), Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis) and Luke Schenn (Toronto).
Analysis: It's no surprise that the Ducks traded down, but somewhat surprising that they traded that far down. Brian Burke thought the third tier of players ended at #15, and he'd targeted a third-tier guy that would be available there. Maybe Burke feels "that guy" will be available at 17? Or maybe he really liked the value of two first-round picks at 17 and 28 more than one third-tier guy at 12?? Stay tuned ...
Brian Burke said Scott Niedermayer HAS NOT been given a deadline of tomorrow to decide whether or not he's retiring. Niedermayer's wife is close to giving birth, Burke said, and for that reason he's willing to extend the deadline past the draft and into next week, to let Niedermayer concentrate on his family.
Interesting to note: Burke said this will not affect the team's draft plans either way.
No news will be good news IF Niedermayer decides to come back ... whenever he eventually decides.
No news from Teemu, either.
Check out tomorrow's editions for what Burke had to say about the Ducks' No. 12 overall pick.
...is not in Anaheim this weekend, but in Ottawa, where the Ducks have told Scott Niedermayer's agent, Kevin Epp, that the defenseman won't have to decide his future by tomorrow (according to this report). If he retires, it's the type of story that could potentially upstage anything the Ducks do in the draft. If waits to decide until a deadline of July 1, as the report suggests, it could affect the Ducks' draft strategy.
Confirmation coming soon.
The Toronto Globe and Mail spotted Scott Niedermayer's agent, Kevin Epp, talking to Bob Murray, the Ducks' VP of hockey ops, in the lobby of an Ottawa hotel this morning. (Oh, to have been a fly on the wall of an Ottawa hotel lobby this morning...) Here's what both parties had to say (with links to the original here and here for the Associated Press version, with Murray quoted.)
Continue reading Report: Scott Niedermayer still 'in limbo'.
Great column from Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free-Press about a particular Detroit Red Wings fan, who got a visit recently from Chris Osgood and the Stanley Cup at his home in ... Corona Del Mar.
With the 2008 NHL entry draft nine days away, the Ducks used a trade Tuesday to improve their draft prospects, but it wasn't a big one: Marc-Andre Bergeron was sent to Minnesota for the Wild's third-round pick in the entry draft.
Continue reading Interpreting Marc-Andre Bergeron to Minnesota.
The more I thought about this provision, the less meaningful it seemed: Article 8.6(d), "A Bona Fide Offer ... remains open to the player for at least thirty (30) days after receipt of the offer by the Player." The rule pertains just to entry-level contracts.
Continue reading My summer with the CBA: You don't have to sign right away..
About J.P.
J.P. Hoornstra has been covering the Anaheim Ducks since 2007. Eight months after the University of Wisconsin won its third NCAA hockey championship, he was born in a frigid Madison winter. He betrayed his blue-blooded beginnings by graduating from UCLA in 2003, and welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
Recent Comments
johntmeyer on On the third day, the Ducks rest.: Did my com
johntmeyer on On the third day, the Ducks rest.: Hi JP, My
johnmartinmaher on Ducks prospect Macenauer out 'quite a length of time.': Great work
iain on Agent's interview sparks Niedermayers-to-Vancouver rumor: You wanted
dirtmover on Ducks 2, Sharks 0.: What a gre
Mitleid on Ott's suspension is up.: A lot of p
Tinky Winky on What $1.99 buys you nowadays.: 1.99 can b
Jacob Pomrenke on Who are you, and what are you doing here?: At least y
Jeff Gluck on My Motocross cherry is broken.: Did you wa