Selanne, Bryzgalov, Niedermayer, and the Schedule
Posted 2:24 PM ET | Comments 6
Well, on Friday last week, I was roaming around hockeybuzz noticing that nothing was going on, and I silently wished for some action. Boy, was that a mistake. Next thing I know, I see "Selanne to Philly (e4)" and I curse Ek. I wanted good rumours, not bad. I mean come on Ek, can't you weed them out. I immediately went to the comments and posted a comment that implied that the rumour was BS. I then went to my Ducks source, and he confirmed the rumour. I yelled at him as well and he kind of retraced his steps. While this rumour has certainly cooled off and all Ducks fans are calling Ek a fake and his rumour BS, it is still out there. Teemu's agent and Paul Holmgren have talked, and there is a small possibility that he signs with Philadelphia. I quickly also blamed Brian Burke for this occurence because I believe Teemu probably doesn't want the incentive-laden contract that Burke is offering. Burke probably assumed that Teemu was going to just come back at any price and didn't allot enough cap space for him. I started to think of ways to bring Teemu back into the fold and silently wished that Scott Niedermayer would retire. I was a wreck. Well, Scott still hasn't retired and now I wish that he would come back because I hear that Teemu is now retiring. What a merry-go-round! According to a source in Finland who was with Teemu yesterday, he unofficially announced his retirement and blew off the Philadelphia rumours. This was my 2nd choice of what I wanted to happen. Obviously, I never wanted to see Teemu Selanne, who I've watched for over 10 years, leave Anaheim again, but I also wanted him to come back more than anything. So, here I am back where I started and Brian Burke is probably back where he started, with Todd Bertuzzi and no Teemu Selanne. Bertuzzi will have a decent year I think, but no where near a Teemu Selanne year. That's a shame, too. We love you here in Anaheim Teemu and hope that you stick to your word of either retiring or coming back because your spot in the rafters is waiting.
Ilya Bryzgalov was supposed to be traded before the draft, then before free agency started, and now here we are on July 9th and Ilya Bryzgalov still hasn't been traded. Why? Because he's cheap, he's young, and he's at least proven as a backup. What is Ilya Bryzgalov's value? I am confused on this because I thought judging by what Toskala got, Bryz would be worth a 2007 1st. Now I'm hearing that he's worth a couple of 2nd line/2nd pairing prospects. That is a fairly decent return, but it will do nothing in the short run to impact the Ducks roster. We are already set at forward and defense assuming Penner re-signs, which I'm hearing could occur soon. Apparently, according to Ek and my Ducks source, Tampa Bay is the front runner and Matt Smaby and a 3rd rounder in 2008 are involved going the other way. Not a terrible return at all. However, Jonas Hiller's cap hit is 3.2 million, so if Burke deals Bryz, he'll have to sign a cheap backup or make more moves to stay within the cap and the self-imposed cap(45 million).
Scott Niedermayer still hasn't retired yet, and I'm wondering what he's waiting for. Is he having 2nd thoughts? Is he just driving Ducks fans nuts? YES! The cap space is ever important to us, but Scott's return would also be very important. We just need to know before Burke goes out and makes signings assuming things(Bertuzzi). Hopefully this situation clears itself up.
In NHL news, the schedule comes out on Wednesday and I'm excited to see some marquee matchups. Apparently, the Ducks home opener, where they will raise the banner, will be against the Boston Bruins and former Duck Shawn Thornton. Thornton was well liked in Anaheim and will be missed as a source of energy. Hopefully, we'll see some great matchups come Wednesday.
That's all for now and stay tuned for another blog later this week. Stay classy Hockeybuzz.
Ilya Bryzgalov was supposed to be traded before the draft, then before free agency started, and now here we are on July 9th and Ilya Bryzgalov still hasn't been traded. Why? Because he's cheap, he's young, and he's at least proven as a backup. What is Ilya Bryzgalov's value? I am confused on this because I thought judging by what Toskala got, Bryz would be worth a 2007 1st. Now I'm hearing that he's worth a couple of 2nd line/2nd pairing prospects. That is a fairly decent return, but it will do nothing in the short run to impact the Ducks roster. We are already set at forward and defense assuming Penner re-signs, which I'm hearing could occur soon. Apparently, according to Ek and my Ducks source, Tampa Bay is the front runner and Matt Smaby and a 3rd rounder in 2008 are involved going the other way. Not a terrible return at all. However, Jonas Hiller's cap hit is 3.2 million, so if Burke deals Bryz, he'll have to sign a cheap backup or make more moves to stay within the cap and the self-imposed cap(45 million).
Scott Niedermayer still hasn't retired yet, and I'm wondering what he's waiting for. Is he having 2nd thoughts? Is he just driving Ducks fans nuts? YES! The cap space is ever important to us, but Scott's return would also be very important. We just need to know before Burke goes out and makes signings assuming things(Bertuzzi). Hopefully this situation clears itself up.
In NHL news, the schedule comes out on Wednesday and I'm excited to see some marquee matchups. Apparently, the Ducks home opener, where they will raise the banner, will be against the Boston Bruins and former Duck Shawn Thornton. Thornton was well liked in Anaheim and will be missed as a source of energy. Hopefully, we'll see some great matchups come Wednesday.
That's all for now and stay tuned for another blog later this week. Stay classy Hockeybuzz.
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29 The Rest of the 1st round of the 2007 Draft Analysis+Ratings
I don't think your out of the woods yet when it comes to Selanne signing with the Flyers. Ek said when he posted it, that if it does happen it won't be for a little while. At least a couple weeks. Its only been three days.
I would hope Tampa is after Bryzgalov! They definitely need someone. Holmquist isnt bad (at times) but he is not a legitimate starter at this point. Matt Smaby is a good prospect and was looking to possibly make ice time this year or next at the latest, depending on Pratt's status and injuries. He played well in Springfield. I would love to get Bryzgalov and would give Smaby and 2nd rnd pick and consider Tampa coming out ahead.
Nah, man, there's absolutely zero chance Teemu goes to Philly. Pepper talked to him, and he thinks Eklund's a total moron for thinking that he'd go there. Also, if the guy you talked to was Wildcat, I think he messed up, too. He isn't 100% great when dealing with only Ducks stuff and no Pirates. He was under the impression Niedermayer had made all his retirement arrangements well before the draft, but Niedermayer didn't even say anything to Burke till July 1. But, yeah, I'm going to go ahead and say Forsberg has a better shot of landing in Phoenix than Teemu does in Philly.
I just mentioned Pepper and mentioned that I thought he was retiring, but Pepper even said, "anything's possible".
Teemu is coming off a great season, but with all the new additions in Philadelphia, it's hard to see exactly where he fits. Granted a skill set like that you find a way, but you don't want to retard a young talent or be forced into trading a youngster for one year of Teemu.
I agree JS.