Official: Weight traded to Ducks for Andy McDonald

[akustyk 84]

Yeah, because he had no other way to make room for Niedermayer than by dumping off McDonald for Weight. If McDonald as that unneccessary to his team's success that they needed no offense coming back, why not deal him for high end prospects rather than a washed up center and weak prospects?

honestly?

no, he most likely had no other way to make room for Niedermayer. in all honesty, every single GM in this league, even ppl in Caps or Hawks were aware Burke will be trying to make a trade for one of his forwards. and every single GM was perfectly aware this is the ultimate opportunity to milk Burke all the way down. Burke was not yet in a hurry to get as low as to putting McDonald (or other player) on waivers but that was still a situation where he had to take what he got. no way in hell he'd get any draft picks in this situation - that'd take some "brillant" idea from Bobby Clarke (but this guy is no longer GM).

[e_mcgrath88 0]

Its even funnier cuz Doug Weight doesnt even want to go to Anaheim.. ahhahaha

http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/sports-morni...ded-to-anaheim/

[wingslogo19 281]

Well looks like the Ducks get an old man that's not playing well at all this year

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Exactly.

And the Pronger deal pretty much fell in his lap because Pronger wanted out of Edmonton.

Well Harold, you and Eva seem to have all the answers. Funny though how some of the answers seem to mimick the things we've heard about Ken Holland. "Pronger fell into his lap". Sort of like what we heard about Hasek the first go 'round.

"Didn't draft Perry or Getzlaf" = Holland doesn't seem to get any credit whatsoever for the 97 and 98 Cup winning teams.

I just find it funny the parallels.

Look, I already stated that he made some boneheaded moves....a la Uwe Krupp and some other Holland gems I won't bother getting into.

All I know is Burke seems to have winning teams wherever he's at. So either he's the luckies SOB to ever walk the Earth or he might know what he's doing.

As far as what's going on with his team currently, I agree with Eva saying it appears he can't look past the current season. However, it is oh so easy to play armchair GM. What leverage do we think Burke might have had in the MacDonald deal? Every GM in the league knows the Ducks situation so how is Burke supposed to get equal value when he's up against the wall? Now, that being said the argument moves onto "well, he put himself in that position in the first place".....well, that's only partially true. Scott Niedermayer helped put him in this place.

And Harold, this still seem like a conspiracy by Burke and Niedermayer to you? Yeah, trading Mac for Doug Weight sure seems to fit into the whole collusion angle. Like I said before, what exactly were Burke and Scott doing, colluding to make the Ducks a .500 team and cough up quality players? That dog didn't hunt from day one and I think the situation as it stands is proving that out. What did the Ducks gain in all this? Based on you guys bashing the hell out of him, doesn't seem like the savvy, underhanded move you all accused him of.

You guys go on thinking he's a moron.

PS: Maybe you'll all say these guys "fell into his lap", but the Ducks added the following players to their roster AFTER Burke got there:

Scott Niedermayer

Chris Pronger

Teemu Selanne

Francois Beuchemin

Sean O'Donnell

Todd Marchant

And they one the cup.

In Vancouver, under his tenure, between 1999-2003 the 'Nucks improved their points total each season.

Sporting News "Executive of the Year for 2001"

Sporting News runner up for "Executive of the Year 2002"

The Hockey News "Executive of the Year 2006"

Look, we're all WIngs fans here and I don't like the Ducks anymore than the next guy. I guess the difference between me and some of you guys is i'm not judging the guy based on a pretty bad year on paper as far as player movement. And be honest, this was not the typical off season for an NHL GM. Scott Niedermayer situation, being the only GM to actually have one of his young talents pilfered. The guy has had to play with his back against the wall the entire year. I give him credit for salvaging what he could from an F'ed up situation.

I don't think he's a moron. I don't think he's had the success he's had because he's lucky and players fall into his lap. It doesn't mean I have man love for him. Quite the contrary. It means I don't let my hatred for him blind my objectivity. Same can't be said for you all.

We'll see at season's end I supposed

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Can you find the part where I called Burke a moron?

yeah, thanks.

[eva unit zero 271]

In Vancouver, under his tenure, between 1999-2003 the 'Nucks improved their points total each season.

With Mike Keenan's players. Burke gets all the credit for the Vancouver success, even though Mike Keenan was responsible for Morrison and Bertuzzi, and Naslund was around pre-Keenan. As I said before...Ed Jovanovski was the only core player who Burke acquired...and he was the teams third-best defenseman until Adrian Aucoin was traded for Dan Cloutier, ending Burke's wheel-of-goalies; Kevin Weekes and Felix Potvin had both already come in and left as 'our guy for now and the future' under Burke.

Look, we're all WIngs fans here and I don't like the Ducks anymore than the next guy. I guess the difference between me and some of you guys is i'm not judging the guy based on a pretty bad year on paper as far as player movement. And be honest, this was not the typical off season for an NHL GM. Scott Niedermayer situation, being the only GM to actually have one of his young talents pilfered. The guy has had to play with his back against the wall the entire year. I give him credit for salvaging what he could from an F'ed up situation.

I don't think he's a moron. I don't think he's had the success he's had because he's lucky and players fall into his lap. It doesn't mean I have man love for him. Quite the contrary. It means I don't let my hatred for him blind my objectivity. Same can't be said for you all.

We'll see at season's end I supposed

Burke needed to clear up about 2m off of next year's cap to be able to bring Niedermayer back. Why does he trade Andy McDonald, a versatile, speedy scoring forward who can play all three forward positions and is defensively aware, for basically nothing of value? Why didn't he just scrap aging plugger Todd Marchant for a pick or even waive him? Marchant is probably the fourth or fifth best checking forward on the Ducks, and his offense is completely gone. He doesn't bring even half of the game McDonald does, and he's much older. If the Ducks waive Marchant and lose him for nothing, they are better off than if they trade McDonald for Weight-plus. Burke failed to see this and gave up one of his best players for far below his value. It's like if the Wings had to bring Lidstrom off suspension, and they needed to clear up 1m, so they traded Holmstrom to San Jose for Jeremy Roenick instead of simply waiving Mikael Samuelsson. Holland would be run out of town if that happened, so why does Burke get a free pass after this and other botched deals this season?

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Pre-Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim is tied for 8th in the WC with 34 points.

However, the 2 other teams that have 34 points - St. Louis and CBJ - have played 5 and 3 fewer games, respectively.

Phoenix is 8 points behind Anaheim.....yet with 5 games in hand.

Nashville is 4 points behind Anaheim...yet with 5 games in hand.

Chicago is 2 points behind Anaheim...yet with 4 games in hand.

Hell, as it stands, there is ONE team in the entire Western conference that cant catch or pass Anaheim just by using the games they have in hand. That team is LA, who is 8 points behind Anaheim, with only 3 games in hand.

I think because Anaheim had a couple games already played before the rest of the league started, people just look at their record and think theyre still doing okay. There is still time, naturally, but I think people are overestimating how much adding Niedermayer is going to do for this squad. A handful of games away from the halfway point for this team and theyre barely at .500. And to think many are spouting off that Anaheim is set for a repeat..

[edicius 3,269]

Pre-Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim is tied for 8th in the WC with 34 points.

However, the 2 other teams that have 34 points - St. Louis and CBJ - have played 5 and 3 fewer games, respectively.

Phoenix is 8 points behind Anaheim.....yet with 5 games in hand.

Nashville is 4 points behind Anaheim...yet with 5 games in hand.

Chicago is 2 points behind Anaheim...yet with 4 games in hand.

Hell, as it stands, there is ONE team in the entire Western conference that cant catch or pass Anaheim just by using the games they have in hand. That team is LA, who is 8 points behind Anaheim, with only 3 games in hand.

I think because Anaheim had a couple games already played before the rest of the league started, people just look at their record and think theyre still doing okay. There is still time, naturally, but I think people are overestimating how much adding Niedermayer is going to do for this squad. A handful of games away from the halfway point for this team and theyre barely at .500. And to think many are spouting off that Anaheim is set for a repeat..

Wow, I didn't realize Anaheim had that many games ahead of all the other teams. That makes Anaheim's record look even worse than it is. And makes Burke's decisions looking that much more foolish.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

With Mike Keenan's players. Burke gets all the credit for the Vancouver success, even though Mike Keenan was responsible for Morrison and Bertuzzi, and Naslund was around pre-Keenan. As I said before...Ed Jovanovski was the only core player who Burke acquired...and he was the teams third-best defenseman until Adrian Aucoin was traded for Dan Cloutier, ending Burke's wheel-of-goalies; Kevin Weekes and Felix Potvin had both already come in and left as 'our guy for now and the future' under Burke.

Burke needed to clear up about 2m off of next year's cap to be able to bring Niedermayer back. Why does he trade Andy McDonald, a versatile, speedy scoring forward who can play all three forward positions and is defensively aware, for basically nothing of value? Why didn't he just scrap aging plugger Todd Marchant for a pick or even waive him? Marchant is probably the fourth or fifth best checking forward on the Ducks, and his offense is completely gone. He doesn't bring even half of the game McDonald does, and he's much older. If the Ducks waive Marchant and lose him for nothing, they are better off than if they trade McDonald for Weight-plus. Burke failed to see this and gave up one of his best players for far below his value. It's like if the Wings had to bring Lidstrom off suspension, and they needed to clear up 1m, so they traded Holmstrom to San Jose for Jeremy Roenick instead of simply waiving Mikael Samuelsson. Holland would be run out of town if that happened, so why does Burke get a free pass after this and other botched deals this season?

I agree that the McDonald deal is bad. But Mac has been pretty bad this year. The other GM's were gonna bend him over a barrel in any attempted trade. Yeah, dumping Marchant would seem like a better move on paper I guess.

Niedermayer + MacDonald

or

Niedermayer + Weight + Marchant

???

Only time and the standings will tell

Can you find the part where I called Burke a moron?

yeah, thanks.

Sorry Harold, sometimes its hard to address everybody whilst having disagreements with multiple individuals.

No, for the record you did not personally call Burke a moron.

But you did adamantly claim you believed he was colluding with Niedermayer to do something underhanded regarding Scott's "retirement" situation.

And to that, this MacDonald deal which is being universally panned, doesn't seem to jive with your conspiracy theory unless your theory was that they were conspiring to make the Ducks a worse team.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Todd Marchant makes 2.5 mill, which is more than double what he should be making at this point. Nobody would claim him, so the only thing you'd be accomplishing is making the guy feel like he's not wanted.

Lets remember it took two passes through waivers in '05 for Anaheim to eventually claim him. And this is when he was younger and better than he is now.

[eva unit zero 271]

I agree that the McDonald deal is bad. But Mac has been pretty bad this year. The other GM's were gonna bend him over a barrel in any attempted trade. Yeah, dumping Marchant would seem like a better move on paper I guess.

Niedermayer + MacDonald

or

Niedermayer + Weight + Marchant

???

Only time and the standings will tell

And after this season, that could realistically be:

Niedermayer

or

Niedermayer+McDonald

??

If Marchant goes away, he can be replaced by Ryan Carter, who has seen plenty of SH time this season when he's dressed. The Ducks also have Brian Sutherby and Mark Mowers as part-time centers who can play a capable defensive game. Marchant's role on the Ducks is similar to Maltby's on the Wings; his team has several players who do his job better than he does. McDonald equates with the role Brind'Amour played on the Hurricanes' Cup team; the versatile, offensive center who is also defensively capable. One thing to remember; McDonald played on the top PP unit last season and is now on the second unit; he sees a minute less per game and is playing primarily with a combination of guys like Todd Bertuzzi, Rob Niedermayer, Mark Mowers, Geoff Platt, and Jason King. At even strength he had been playing with Bertuzzi and Andrew Miller; his linemates combine for 6-7-13 to his 4-12-16. If they try and plug Weight into that line...they won't have ANY secondary scoring.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Sorry Harold, sometimes its hard to address everybody whilst having disagreements with multiple individuals.

No, for the record you did not personally call Burke a moron.

But you did adamantly claim you believed he was colluding with Niedermayer to do something underhanded regarding Scott's "retirement" situation.

And to that, this MacDonald deal which is being universally panned, doesn't seem to jive with your conspiracy theory unless your theory was that they were conspiring to make the Ducks a worse team.

To be clear, I never thought he was colluding with Niedermayer from the start of that whole deal, but I thought there was a good chance that after Burke got Schneider and the regular season started, Niedermayer had pretty much given him a heads up that he'd be returning and when.

But you're right, given how bad the McDonald deal was, it sure doesn't seem like Burke was prepared for this. So it looks like I was wrong. I just can't believe Niedermayer really didn't give Burke or his team any indication until a week ago; it makes him an incredibly selfish player.

It's so out of character for him, but he really hurt his teammates and screwed his GM with his indecision.

Edited December 16, 2007 by haroldsnepsts

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

And after this season, that could realistically be:

Niedermayer

or

Niedermayer+McDonald

??

If Marchant goes away, he can be replaced by Ryan Carter, who has seen plenty of SH time this season when he's dressed. The Ducks also have Brian Sutherby and Mark Mowers as part-time centers who can play a capable defensive game. Marchant's role on the Ducks is similar to Maltby's on the Wings; his team has several players who do his job better than he does. McDonald equates with the role Brind'Amour played on the Hurricanes' Cup team; the versatile, offensive center who is also defensively capable. One thing to remember; McDonald played on the top PP unit last season and is now on the second unit; he sees a minute less per game and is playing primarily with a combination of guys like Todd Bertuzzi, Rob Niedermayer, Mark Mowers, Geoff Platt, and Jason King. At even strength he had been playing with Bertuzzi and Andrew Miller; his linemates combine for 6-7-13 to his 4-12-16. If they try and plug Weight into that line...they won't have ANY secondary scoring.

Eva, here's some interesting comments from Bob McKenzie. I don't think he views Burke as a moron either....

http://www.tsn.ca/tsn_talent/columnists/bob_mckenzie/

Bob McKenzie

12/15/2007 12:52:58 AM

There are fairly obvious reasons why the St. Louis Blues traded Doug Weight to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Andy McDonald.

McDonald is six years younger than Weight, he's got more offensive upside (even though McDonald is way off his usual pace this season) and is under contract for another season after this one while Weight is an unrestricted free agent who wasn't likely to be re-signed.

Pretty much self-explanatory. McDonald can be a good working part for a rebuilding Blues' club that has some good young talent.

To some degree, the same thing (self explanatory) can be said of the Ducks. They had to make a move to free up "tagging room" next season in order to get Scott Niedermayer back on the roster this season, and since Anaheim netted about $2.5 million in tagging room - or next season's cap room, if you like - it's mission accomplished.

But the fact that the Ducks opted to trade McDonald, a centre, as opposed to a defenceman such as Sean O'Donnell or Shane Hnidy or Mathieu Schneider, did come as something of a surprise.

Some may look at the trade and decide that the Ducks aren't as good now with Weight as they were with McDonald.

Fair enough, that is not an illogical face-value assessment, even though McDonald's numbers are way down this season.

But in the grand scheme of things, this McDonald trade is precisely what the doctor ordered for the Ducks and will help the organization in ways you don't immediately see.

Here are the four big reasons Anaheim made this deal and why it makes a lot of sense for the Ducks:

1. The most obvious - the Weight-McDonald trade immediately allows Scott Niedermayer to return to the Ducks lineup. He will play Sunday vs. San Jose.

2. Ryan Getzlaf has emerged as the Ducks' No. 1 centre and has the contract - $5.6 million next season - to prove it. McDonald, earning $3.33 million next season, is overpriced as a No. 2 centre on the Ducks. He simply doesn't fit the Ducks' salary cap matrix.

3. By freeing up about $2.5 million in salary commitments for next season, and with Niedermayer not expected to play next season and his $6.75 million potentially coming off the books, the Ducks should have plenty of room to do a long-term deal with Corey Perry long before he becomes a restricted free agent on July 1. This is crucial, perhaps the biggest reason this McDonald deal was done.

4. By not trading a defenceman who is under contract next season, the Ducks will be able to return their entire defence corps, likely minus Niedermayer. If they traded Schneider or O'Donnell, and as expected Niedermayer retires, they would have been scrambling to plug an extra hole.

Whatever drop-off there may be between Weight as a No. 2 centre on the Ducks and McDonald in that role is more than offset by all the other benefits, notably the opening of a window of opportunity to sign Perry to a long-term deal and not having to give up a defenceman off the roster to get Niedermayer back playing now.

In the old days, you used to evaluate a trade simply by comparing the two players who got traded for each other. You can't do that any more, not in the salary cap world where the most important asset a team can get in a deal is often something you can't see or feel - salary cap or tagging room - that allows you to do deals of even greater impact.

[edicius 3,269]

What you neglected to mention, however, is that McKenzie kisses Burke's ass whenever possible. That said, any statements he makes on the whole situation are rather biased and intended to make Burke look as good as possible. No dice.

[akustyk 84]

What you neglected to mention, however, is that McKenzie kisses Burke's ass whenever possible. That said, any statements he makes on the whole situation are rather biased and intended to make Burke look as good as possible. No dice.

whole TSN staff is keeping their noses right in Burke's ass and if not for the fact they need to showcase Canadian teams first, they'd be doing some Big Brother to show ppl how Brian is the second coming of Jesus Christ (or was it Jesus who opened the path for Brian, albeit missing Burke's genius. or so)

truth being said, McKenzie's points are valid. the main question here is, however, who put Burke in this hole to trade young promising forward for old-fart Weight? wasn't it the same Brian who paid fat salaries to Bertuzzi and the very McDonald? that however is not what McKenzie and TSN is able to see. or mention

[Grittzkey 1]

*laughs* at all the essays you all have written.

[eva unit zero 271]

Eva, here's some interesting comments from Bob McKenzie. I don't think he views Burke as a moron either....

http://www.tsn.ca/tsn_talent/columnists/bob_mckenzie/

Bob McKenzie

12/15/2007 12:52:58 AM

There are fairly obvious reasons why the St. Louis Blues traded Doug Weight to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Andy McDonald.

McDonald is six years younger than Weight, he's got more offensive upside (even though McDonald is way off his usual pace this season) and is under contract for another season after this one while Weight is an unrestricted free agent who wasn't likely to be re-signed.

Pretty much self-explanatory. McDonald can be a good working part for a rebuilding Blues' club that has some good young talent.

To some degree, the same thing (self explanatory) can be said of the Ducks. They had to make a move to free up "tagging room" next season in order to get Scott Niedermayer back on the roster this season, and since Anaheim netted about $2.5 million in tagging room - or next season's cap room, if you like - it's mission accomplished.

But the fact that the Ducks opted to trade McDonald, a centre, as opposed to a defenceman such as Sean O'Donnell or Shane Hnidy or Mathieu Schneider, did come as something of a surprise.

Some may look at the trade and decide that the Ducks aren't as good now with Weight as they were with McDonald.

Fair enough, that is not an illogical face-value assessment, even though McDonald's numbers are way down this season.

But in the grand scheme of things, this McDonald trade is precisely what the doctor ordered for the Ducks and will help the organization in ways you don't immediately see.

Here are the four big reasons Anaheim made this deal and why it makes a lot of sense for the Ducks:

1. The most obvious - the Weight-McDonald trade immediately allows Scott Niedermayer to return to the Ducks lineup. He will play Sunday vs. San Jose.

2. Ryan Getzlaf has emerged as the Ducks' No. 1 centre and has the contract - $5.6 million next season - to prove it. McDonald, earning $3.33 million next season, is overpriced as a No. 2 centre on the Ducks. He simply doesn't fit the Ducks' salary cap matrix.

3. By freeing up about $2.5 million in salary commitments for next season, and with Niedermayer not expected to play next season and his $6.75 million potentially coming off the books, the Ducks should have plenty of room to do a long-term deal with Corey Perry long before he becomes a restricted free agent on July 1. This is crucial, perhaps the biggest reason this McDonald deal was done.

4. By not trading a defenceman who is under contract next season, the Ducks will be able to return their entire defence corps, likely minus Niedermayer. If they traded Schneider or O'Donnell, and as expected Niedermayer retires, they would have been scrambling to plug an extra hole.

Whatever drop-off there may be between Weight as a No. 2 centre on the Ducks and McDonald in that role is more than offset by all the other benefits, notably the opening of a window of opportunity to sign Perry to a long-term deal and not having to give up a defenceman off the roster to get Niedermayer back playing now.

In the old days, you used to evaluate a trade simply by comparing the two players who got traded for each other. You can't do that any more, not in the salary cap world where the most important asset a team can get in a deal is often something you can't see or feel - salary cap or tagging room - that allows you to do deals of even greater impact.

Three words that Mckenzie and Burke fail to realize would have been a BETTER move for the Ducks: Waive Todd Marchant.

That clears up the same amount of cap space next season, while instead of losing the top six forward in McDonald, they lose an overpriced, redundant fourth liner who is close to retirement himself. There's a good chance Marchant will retire after the season...wouldn't it have been better for the Ducks to hang onto McDonald and only need to maybe replace one center, rather than now where they may need to replace two, including the second liner? It's a bad deal because of the players involved, and it's also a bad deal because of the other options available to Burke to achieve the same goals.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

What you neglected to mention, however, is that McKenzie kisses Burke's ass whenever possible. That said, any statements he makes on the whole situation are rather biased and intended to make Burke look as good as possible. No dice.

uhh?

Ok, whatever you say.

I didn't know Bob McKenzie's character was in such question. I thought he was a respected person in hockey circles, not a shill for Brian Burke.

But hey, he's only Bob McKenzie. Surely you know what you're talking about.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Three words that Mckenzie and Burke fail to realize would have been a BETTER move for the Ducks: Waive Todd Marchant.

That clears up the same amount of cap space next season, while instead of losing the top six forward in McDonald, they lose an overpriced, redundant fourth liner who is close to retirement himself. There's a good chance Marchant will retire after the season...wouldn't it have been better for the Ducks to hang onto McDonald and only need to maybe replace one center, rather than now where they may need to replace two, including the second liner? It's a bad deal because of the players involved, and it's also a bad deal because of the other options available to Burke to achieve the same goals.

Eva, exactly what does waiving Marchant entail. I'm a little foggy on the whole waiver thing.

So he gets waived by the Ducks. Does that mean for certain that anybody claims him?

What if nobody claims him?

How long is the waiver process?

Niedermayer was in the lineup tonight and logged over 20+ minutes. They lost but they only gave up 1 goal in regulation to a strong Sharks team. I'm guessing Niedermayer is going to have this kind of impact on their GAA from here on out.

Anyway, back to the topic of waivers. If Marchant were on waivers as of today, would Niedermayer have been able to play today?

What's the guarantee marchant would have been picked up by anybody while on waivers or on re-entry waivers? What if he had not been picked up at all, do the Ducks get to just cast him away somewhere and not pay him or count his salary?

What you say about Marchant seems to be too good or too easy to actually be a true or guaranteed solution to getting Niedermayer back into the lineup.

Can you clarify how waiving Marchant would've been better? Seeing as his salary is rich and as you say he's like their 3rd or 4th best defensive forward, who is going to jump at the chance to overpay for him?

[eva unit zero 271]

Eva, exactly what does waiving Marchant entail. I'm a little foggy on the whole waiver thing.

So he gets waived by the Ducks. Does that mean for certain that anybody claims him?

What if nobody claims him?

How long is the waiver process?

Niedermayer was in the lineup tonight and logged over 20+ minutes. They lost but they only gave up 1 goal in regulation to a strong Sharks team. I'm guessing Niedermayer is going to have this kind of impact on their GAA from here on out.

Anyway, back to the topic of waivers. If Marchant were on waivers as of today, would Niedermayer have been able to play today?

What's the guarantee marchant would have been picked up by anybody while on waivers or on re-entry waivers? What if he had not been picked up at all, do the Ducks get to just cast him away somewhere and not pay him or count his salary?

What you say about Marchant seems to be too good or too easy to actually be a true or guaranteed solution to getting Niedermayer back into the lineup.

Can you clarify how waiving Marchant would've been better? Seeing as his salary is rich and as you say he's like their 3rd or 4th best defensive forward, who is going to jump at the chance to overpay for him?

Waiving Marchant allows them to send him to the minors, and clear up his cap space. That would have provided them the tagging room necessary to have Niedermayer back in the lineup from the moment Marchant was assigned to the minor league club, which could have happened just as quickly as the McDonald deal allowed Nieds back into the lineup. Yes, Anaheim only allowed one regulation goal. But they also only scored one goal.

[Duck Guy 86]

Andy Mac was not doing well without BFF Teemu he did not click well with bert. Ducks got a Veteran out of the deal washed up or not always good to have. He is free agent next season Andy was not. Also got a pick and Prospect out of the deal. And I am sure Burke knows how to run a team . should be as simple as that. not the worst trade to take place in NHL history. Pacific division is not strong at all ducks have nothing to stress about.

Edited December 17, 2007 by Duck Guy

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Waiving Marchant allows them to send him to the minors, and clear up his cap space. That would have provided them the tagging room necessary to have Niedermayer back in the lineup from the moment Marchant was assigned to the minor league club, which could have happened just as quickly as the McDonald deal allowed Nieds back into the lineup. Yes, Anaheim only allowed one regulation goal. But they also only scored one goal.

Yes, there offense continues to struggle. But as I mentioned earlier, they've given up the 4th most goals in the West. If they improve their goals allowed, they'll start climbing the standings. Of that I have no doubt.

As for Marchant, if what you say is correct then he'd just toil in the minors forever? They don't have to pay him his salary? I don't understand how they can just not pay him his contractual salary. Or is it that they pay him but it doesn't count? I'm so confused.

Oh well, in your scenario they add Niedermayer and subtract Marchant. In Burke's they add Weight and Niedermayer and subtract McDonald. I guess he wanted to have 3 NHL regulars in the lineup instead of 2.

And he got a pick or some prospects to go with all the juicy picks he got from the Penner deal.

I'd say that even though it doesn't look it, the fact that he dealt away an overpriced 2nd line center for an UFA he won't re sign and got a bunch of picks, that he'll be okay next season as well with money to spend.

[BlueMonk 102]

Anaheim is slowly rounding into form. The only real question mark I'd see with them is goal scoring, which admittedly is a pretty big question mark. I'd rather have Andy McDonald and Teemu Selanne than Bertuzzi and Weight, so for now, I don't think the team's offense is as strong as it was last season.

[Opie 308]

GS&T,

It doesn't matter if their defense increases right now, even if they managed to get their GAA up to 4 least in the league scoring 2 goals a game will not win them anything.

As I said long before and will continue to believe, replacing Neids with Schneid was unnecessary and should have been the second move he made, first should have been replacing Teemu. Teemu could have come back, but it would/will cost them money, Neids returning was basically free of charge. With the loss of Teemu and Penner they lost their numbers 1 and 3 offensive players, 2 being Neids.

The Duck need a top line scorer like it is their job, they don't need D nearly as much, in order to be a contender they will need to make another trade Schneids or O'Donnell and a prospect (probably need to be Ryan) for a top line scorer.

You would be surprised how much better the D would be if the O could score with some regularities, would give the D a nice boost of energy.

[eva unit zero 271]

Yes, there offense continues to struggle. But as I mentioned earlier, they've given up the 4th most goals in the West. If they improve their goals allowed, they'll start climbing the standings. Of that I have no doubt.

As for Marchant, if what you say is correct then he'd just toil in the minors forever? They don't have to pay him his salary? I don't understand how they can just not pay him his contractual salary. Or is it that they pay him but it doesn't count? I'm so confused.

If Marchant was waived and sent down, he would still get paid by the Ducks, but his salary would not count against the cap. As mentioned before, Brian Sutherby could take Marchant's fourth-line position easily. Sutherby is an RFA at season's end, so he doesn't increase the amount of the cap hit for next season right now. They would be closer to the cap if they waived Marchant instead of dealing McDonald, but they'd still fit under it. If Niedermayer returns, they have to make another move to clear space for Perry. If he doesn't, they could have made it through with McDonald. Marchant is now the second highest cap hit among forwards on the Ducks, and he plays fourth line. Sutherby is an NHL player and played first line at times with Washington.

Oh well, in your scenario they add Niedermayer and subtract Marchant. In Burke's they add Weight and Niedermayer and subtract McDonald. I guess he wanted to have 3 NHL regulars in the lineup instead of 2.

And he got a pick or some prospects to go with all the juicy picks he got from the Penner deal.

I'd say that even though it doesn't look it, the fact that he dealt away an overpriced 2nd line center for an UFA he won't re sign and got a bunch of picks, that he'll be okay next season as well with money to spend.