Penalty Shot: And Then There Were . . . Still 26

ARTHUR:
Anaheim calling to the hockey world...

Ryan Donally and Justin Pogge were sent to San Antonio to join Mark Mitera yesterday. Kyle Calder and Jassen Cullimore were released. And The OC Register reports Troy Bodie will be re-assigned today.

That leaves the Ducks with this roster going into tonight's game:

Forwards:
Artyukhin, Bodie (pending reassignment), Brown, Carter, Christensen, Ebbett, Getzlaf, Koivu, Lupul, MacMillan, Marchant, Nokelainen, Parros, Perry, Ryan, Selanne

Defense:
Boynton, Brookbank, Eminger, Mikkelson, Niedermayer, Sbisa, Whitney, Wisniewski

Goaltenders:
Giguere, Hiller

Carlyle has, perhaps, eased the tension in the battle of the blueline by saying it was "imperative to have a defenseman or forward that can interchange positions." The logical choice there is Brookbank (having played right wing for the Devils last season), but the Ducks opted to experiment with Mikkelson's skating ability at wing in Friday's game against the Sharks.

An 11-forward/7-defenseman lineup may also ease the tension in the contract situation. Of the remaining skaters, only Mikkelson, Sbisa, Ebbett and MacMillan are on two-way deals, and cutting Mikkelson/Sbisa would seriously diminish the skating ability of Anaheim's blueline.

For the final cuts, I predict MacMillan will go next, which is a shame since he could really benefit from playing in the Ducks system, but he hasn't dressed much this pre-season. Then I'd wager a farewell to Ebbett, but only because it's probably too soon to waive/trade Christensen.