Niedermayer to return to Ducks. Pronger to Philadelphia.
Scott Niedermayer will end his latest flirtation with retirement and return to the Ducks next season. The 35-year-old defenseman, who becomes a free agent on July 1, will sign a new contract in the near future, a team spokesman said.
In back-to-back blockbusters -- a fateful two hours for the franchise leading up to the 4 p.m. draft -- Chris Pronger was subsequently traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers send former Duck Joffrey Lupul, defenseman Luca Sbisa and two first-round draft picks to Anaheim.
The player who can make the most immediate impact is Lupul, a 25-year-old winger, who was the seventh overall selection by the Mighty Ducks in 2002. He was traded for Pronger once before, along with Ladislav Šmíd and draft picks, when the Ducks acquired Pronger from Edmonton in 2006. Lupul had 25 goals and 50 points in 79 games last season, along with 58 penalty minutes.
Sbisa, 19, was the 19th overall pick in 2008. He appeared in 39 games last season for the Flyers, notching seven assists and 36 penalty minutes, before returning to juniors in January.
Right wing prospect Ryan Dingle also goes to Philadelphia, and the Ducks will receive a conditional third-round pick next year, though the conditions haven't been announced yet.
More details in tomorrow's editions.
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.
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