ARTHUR:
Anaheim calling to the hockey world...
To recap, since the roster freeze thawed, the Ducks have shipped out
| Picks: | 2010 4th Round | 2010 6th Round | 2011 7th Round | |
| Prospects: | Steven Kampfer | |||
| Players: | Ryan Whitney | Vesa Toskala | Evgeny Artyukhin | Petteri Nokelainen |
| Minor Players: | Nick Boynton | Justin Pogge | ||
| Salary This Yr: | 10.005M | |||
| Salary Next Yr: | 5.45M |
And in return, they've received:
| Picks: | 10 or '11 4th Round (BOS) | 2010 6th Round (PHX) | Considerations (CHI) |
| Players: | Aaron Ward | Lubomir Visnovsky | |
| Minor Players: | Nathan Oystrick | Joey MacDonald | |
| Salary This Yr: | 11.2275M | ||
| Salary Next Yr: | 7.12M |
The salary received factors in Oystrick, MacDonald and McElhinney. Oystrick and MacDonald (who is not signed for next season) will probably stay in the minor leagues this year, but Oystrick's contract for next year is a one-way. McElhinney might also be in the minor leagues next year, but with a healthy amount of NHL experience, one would assume he would have to lose the backup job first.
The Ducks blueline gets significantly better today, and Visnovsky certainly addresses some of the concerns regarding loss of offense next year with the likely departures of Niedermayer and Wisniewski. Oh, and just by getting rid of Whitney, we may see fewer people loitering in front of Hiller. More after the jump...
Some of the smaller moves are interesting. McElhinney gives us a backup goaltender with NHL experience for this year and next year, and it gives us more time to incubate Pielmeier and Cousineau, who will apparently have some seasoned company in the AHL if we re-sign Joey MacDonald for next year. Getting rid of Nokelainen moves a Bottom 6 player and a 900K contract from next year's squad. Chipchura will likely take his place, but the Ducks have plenty of options there.
Ultimately, it was a good day for Bob Murray. I've been very critical of Murph in the past, even once saying that he's a GM for the same reason that John Elway owns a car dealership, but he proved something to me today. First, that he can take a measured approach to deals. He found a way to manufacture money and picks, rather than shuffling the organization to pay the market price. Second, he showed me this isn't the same Murph that signed Wendel Clark. Ryan Whitney was a mistake. Nick Boynton was a mistake. But instead of hanging his head and admitting he made a mistake or taking the Bertuzzi buyout road that Burke once did, Murph lifted his chin and found takers. I'm comforted by the fact that while our GM will make mistakes, sometimes egregious and epic mistakes, he's committed to the solutions business.
On a personal note, today marks the first anniversary of the inaugural Anaheim Calling post. Happy Birthday, Anaheim Calling. In honor of that, I thought we should take a look back at one of our old Blogger posts: Walker Escapes Suspension. We were talking about new Duck Aaron Ward, who was sucker punched by Scott Walker during the playoffs last year. We were a little more longwinded back then (if you can believe it), and we actually talked about things other than the Ducks.
I also want to throw a big thank you out to Earl Sleek. We wouldn't be here without him. He wrote our first promo back when we were on Blogger, and we are your SB Nation representatives on his recommendation. Some might question his choice, since we're not the most social bloggers online (back? link?) and we promote ourselves about as well as a radio ad in a school for the hearing impaired, but he went with us anyways (no backsies!). Thanks Sleek! I hope we can figure out a way to do this as long as you have. For now, I'm still having fun.
Post any game info and lineup changes in the comments.
FOWL!