DiPenta is back... is Niedermayer gone?
Posted 4:13 PM ET | Comments 5
The Halifax Daily News is reporting that Ducks defenseman Joe DiPenta has verbally agreed to a one year contract with the Ducks. While no official announcement has been made by the Ducks the fact that Adam Brady (Director of Publications and New Media for the Anaheim Ducks) posted this to his blog on the team's site is a good indication that it is true.
The question this signing now poses is... Does this mean definitively that Scott Niedermayer is retiring? If we look at the Ducks depth chart we see that they now have eight NHL defenseman, including Niedermayer.
1. Scott Niedermayer
2. Chris Pronger
3. Mathieu Schneider
4. Francois Beauchemin
5. Sean O'Donnell
6. Kent Huskins
7. Shane Hnidy
8. Joe DiPenta
Sadly, I believe this means that Scott Niedermayer is going to retire and that Shane Hnidy and Joe DiPenta will split time as the team's sixth defenseman.
If in fact this is the case, I'm glad the last time I saw Scotty on the ice was when he hoisted the Cup over his head.
Jeremy
The question this signing now poses is... Does this mean definitively that Scott Niedermayer is retiring? If we look at the Ducks depth chart we see that they now have eight NHL defenseman, including Niedermayer.
1. Scott Niedermayer
2. Chris Pronger
3. Mathieu Schneider
4. Francois Beauchemin
5. Sean O'Donnell
6. Kent Huskins
7. Shane Hnidy
8. Joe DiPenta
Sadly, I believe this means that Scott Niedermayer is going to retire and that Shane Hnidy and Joe DiPenta will split time as the team's sixth defenseman.
If in fact this is the case, I'm glad the last time I saw Scotty on the ice was when he hoisted the Cup over his head.
Jeremy
Jeremy,I don't think this signing gives any hint as to Scotty's plan. The Ducks are obviously amassing D-men due to the chance that Scotty doesn't come back, but if he does, all it means is a couple trades need to happen. Check out my blog posting from last night for my further thoughts on Scotty and Teemu.
The Ducks actually have nine defenseman signed. Maxim Kondratiev was signed to a one-way deal worth 500K over the summer.
I agree with RC. Besides, Hnidy can play offence, too. The way I look at it, no news is good news regarding Teemu and Scott. I would like to see us package Bryz and one of our D-men to Tampa for one of their forwards, maybe St.Louis?
I like that trade duxcup, but I don't think Tampa would go for it unless it was a top tier defenseman, and without knowing Scott's future, I wouldn't want to give that up. I also think the longer we go without hearing anything from Teemu and Scott, the better the chances are that they will both come back at some point in the season.
Scotty will stay retired becasue I dont think that it will be very fun defending the cup. Its allot harder and I am sure some teams wont be happy with the way he and other ducks players played to get the cup. The NHL will leave it up to teams to police the game, thats how it has always been right or wrong... Why would Scotty want to come back and play with that going on ??