Has anyone heard anything on the Selanne front? I haven't seen anything since Murray was scheduled to meet with him. It makes me question how likely he will come back this coming season. If that is the case what should Murray do about it?

If we lose Selanne this year it will leave a significant hole in the top 6, that much is obvious. I don't see Blake stepping up his game to fill even a portion of that hole and there isn't much left on the FA market. The easiest move would be to move Ryan off the top line. Which isn't a bad idea. 

Another option would be to acquire Boyes from Buffalo, he could likely be had for cheap because of their cap situation. His contract only has a year left to allow prospects to mature over another year so they're not rushed into NHL duty before they're ready.

The least likely option but one I might like the most is to acquire Zach Parise. Considering what we are paying Selanne we could probably work out a contract that wouldn't be much more, especially if we moved Blake. I am thinking somewhere in the park of 6ish, but to make the move worth it it would have to be a deal of of 4-6 years. I like the idea because he has played with Ryan on the Olympic team, he is toted as being a GOOD character player as well as being a 2 way player.  I think we could offer 2 first rounders and Palmeiri, maybe Bonino.  That would be close to what they would receive in an offer sheet. The obvious problem is that it doesn't leave much room for resigning top players Getzlaf, Perry, and Fowler when their contracts are up. I think it could be possible with the expiring contracts of Beauchemin, Visnovski, and Koivu. Yes those players would need to be replaced or resigned so we would not receive all of that money but there should be enough to give raises where they are due. There is also the possibility to move Ryan if it became necessary, but by that time it is likely some of the prospects would be ready to jump into the lineup.

Lastly, I thought I may make an observation. We have discussed on these boards a need for a good 2 way player. I might take that a step further and say that we need a Selke type player. If we look at the last 5 Cup winning teams each team had a Selke candidate/winner. Ducks 2007-Pahlsson, Detroit 2008-Datsyuk, Pittsburgh 2009-Staal, Chicago 2010-Toews, Boston 2011-Bergeron, and Vancuver a SCF had Kessler. I though it was an interesting coincidence, and it is definitely a player our Ducks don't currently have.