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Ducks Deficiencies Demand Deadline Dealings |
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The Anaheim Ducks are the defending Stanley Cup Champions and now that both Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer have returned it would appear that they have all the pieces in place to make another run at Lord Stanley's Cup.
Not so fast.
Last year the Ducks top line was Chris Kunitz, Andy McDonald and Selanne. Last year their second line was Dustin Penner, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. This year their top line is Todd Bertuzzi, Getzlaf and Perry with a second line of Kunitz, ??? and Selanne.
The ??? do not represent The Riddler, they represent a glaring hole in the Ducks lineup. The Ducks have tried Doug Weight, Todd Marchant, Samuel Pahlsson and Ryan Carter as the center of the second line and none have worked. The only thing these experiments have done is confirm beyond any doubt that the Ducks do not have a legitimate second line center. I believe that in order for Anaheim to make a serious run at the Stanley Cup they will need to address that before the trading deadline.
Allegedly there are two men on the market that would fit the bill perfectly - Mats Sundin and Olli Jokinen. Sundin is a free agent after this season and is 99.9% certain to return to Toronto for next season. Jokinen, on the other hand, is under contract for two more years after this season at a cap hit of $5.25 million. Clearly the better option would be to trade for Jokinen as he would help the Ducks this year and for two more years to come.
However, because Jokinen's not a rental, and because he's seven years younger than Sundin, the price would be higher. If they were able to get it done, though, the second line of Kunitz, Jokinen and Selanne would look mighty nice, indeed.
Andy Strickland reports that the Ducks and Leafs have a deal on the table which would bring Sundin to Anaheim with Bobby Ryan as part of the package going to Toronto. Many Ducks fans are nervous at the prospect of giving up Ryan for a rental and the risk would be high. If the Ducks were not to reach the Stanley Cup Finals it would sting to give up your franchise’s top ranked prospect and having nothing in return long-term. However, if Sundin were the one that helped the Ducks repeat as Champions than Ducks fans would rarely give Ryan a second thought.
It comes down to whether or not Ducks General Manager Brian Burke is going to give up a solid prospect that could potentially be a star player for the Ducks for years to come in exchange for a player that is guaranteed to not be on your team in four months.
Whether it’s Sundin, Jokinen or a player that has yet to be rumored about, the Ducks need to make a deal for a center before the deadline in order to have a realistic chance at winning the Stanley Cup. Anaheim’s defense and goaltending are great, but if teams are able to focus their defensive energy on shutting down the Ducks top line without having to worry about the second line beating them…I don’t believe they would be able to repeat. In fact, I don’t know that they’d even reach the Conference Finals. It’s decisions like these which make GM’s earn their money and we’ll see what Brian Burke decides to do.
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