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Lightning, Avalanche after Ducks’ defensemen?
The Anaheim Ducks are one of those teams dreading the expansion draft.
They can either protect eight forwards and/or defensemen, or protect seven forwards and three defensemen (As well as a goalie in both cases). They have four no-move contracts: Forwards Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, which in the second scenario means they could protect four more forwards; and defenseman Kevin Bieksa, which would leave them with four more players in the first scenario.
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They need to protect Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell, so that drops it down to two more players in Scenario 1 or two more forwards and then two more defensemen in Scenario 2. So obviously, they’d go with Scenario 2, which means they need to make a decision on the following defensemen:
Hampus Lindholm, 23, signed through 2022; Sami Vatanen, 25, signed through 2020; Cam Fowler, 25, signed through 2018; and Josh Manson, 25, signed through 2018 but then he’s an RFA.
Those are four of the team’s top five defensemen in ice time this season, along with Bieksa, and vital parts of a team that amassed 66 points in 55 games for second in the Pacific.
But in all likelihood, one of them is going to have go.
This is something that Elliotte Friedman acknowledged in discussing where they might end up: The Tampa Bay Lightning or the Colorado Avalanche.
Last Friday’s eyebrow-raiser: both Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman watching Anaheim play at Florida. The Ducks were in Tampa the following night but their presence makes a ton of sense. Both men are looking for defence. Anaheim’s got a surplus and it’s been believed for a while now GM Bob Murray will trade one for a forward. Both the Avalanche and Lightning have that.
The more difficult thing to pin down is what specific defender Sakic and Yzerman eyed. Colorado prefers youth and term, Tampa Bay is looking top-four. The Ducks could certainly do either. We know whom the Avalanche have available. Who would the Lightning offer to ease their cap crunch? I’ve got a better chance of getting Donald Trump off Twitter than finding the answer from Steve Yzerman. Still, those are sensible trade partners.
Jokes!
The Avalanche have previously dangled Gabriel Landeskog in front of the Ducks like string in front of a kitten, but GM Bob Murray wouldn’t bat at it if the price was Lindholm. It’s hard to imagine that’s changed, given the season he’s had (first among Ducks’ defensemen in Corsi and expected goals-against per 60 minutes at 2.05, via Corsica). But Landeskog, 24, fits snugly on a team that already has some aging beef up front, with Perry and Getzlaf both 31.
As Friedman notes, the real intrigue is the Lightning, who have the sixth lowest points percentage in the NHL right now at .500 and would need a torrid run to get to the playoffs. Their backend is Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman and then a collection of players that generate about as much offense as a Jimmy Fallon monologue.
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What makes this so interesting: The Lightning’s cap and contract status for next season. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin are all due new contracts as RFAs. Valtteri Filppula is making $5 million for next season, and they’d like to make the disappear, but he has a 16-team no-move.
Steve Yzerman doesn’t seem the type to handle this season from hell all that well, to the point where there’s talk Jon Cooper’s job might be in jeopardy. (But hopefully not, because that’s a mistake, but still, Claude Julien looms …)
Would he pull the trigger on one of the two Triplets if it meant Lindholm, Vatanen or Fowler coming back?
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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