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Ducks face other challenges after signing Niedermayer

July 1st, 2009, 5:32 pm · 8 Comments · posted by Dan Wood, Staff writer

Ducks general manager Bob Murray achieved his foremost off-season objective Wednesday, securing defenseman Scott Niedermayer’s signature on a one-year contract.

The remaining items on Murray’s to-do list might prove more challenging.

Niedermayer, who became an unrestricted free agent at 9 a.m. Wednesday, needed only three hours to finalize terms of a one-year pact worth $6 million. While the base salary is down from the annual $6.75 million figure in the four-year deal Niedermayer signed with the Ducks in 2005, he can increase his earnings through bonus clauses based on team performance.

“Scotty was good about lowering the cap number to help us out,” said Murray, whose current projected roster for 2009-10 nonetheless includes 18 players at nearly $44 million. With probably four or five skaters yet to work into that mix, there is a fair bit of space beneath the NHL’s $56.8 million salary cap, but the Ducks’ internal budget is significantly less than that.

As it is, unrestricted free-agent defenseman Francois Beauchemin, whom Murray had heard spent Wednesday entertaining contract offers that included annual salaries in the $4 million to $5 million range, appears headed elsewhere.

“I expect he’s going to get a big number, and that’s the way it’s going to go,” Murray said. “It’s way out of my range.”

Right wing Rob Niedermayer probably is history, too, given that the Ducks have had no contract talks with his agent. Center Todd Marchant, a fellow checking-line mainstay, is also in limbo after having rejected a contract offer from the Ducks last week, Murray said.

The Ducks, who re-signed left wing-center Erik Christensen to a one-year deal late Tuesday night, are continuing negotiations with restricted free agent James Wisniewski, but a resolution there would still leave a need for at least one established defenseman.

In addition to the expected loss of Beauchemin, blue-line standout Chris Pronger went to the Philadelphia Flyers in Friday’s trade that fetched secondary scoring help in the form of right wing Joffrey Lupul and promising young defenseman Luca Sbisa.

Murray planned to follow through on his initial game plan to delay any further moves until after having monitored league-wide goings-on during the early stages of free agency. Wednesday’s activity featured an array of extravagant spending, activity Murray does not wish to join.

“I’m talking to a few people about a couple of interesting things,” Murray said.

While Scott Niedermayer, “a man of his word,” according to Murray, had indicated all along that he would return to the Ducks after committing Friday to play another NHL season, there were still a few anxious moments when he did not sign before the free-agent market officially opened.

“I think that was just more sort of the process,” Scott Niedermayer said on a conference call from his off-season home in British Columbia. “Sort of an agreement had been there for a while. I wasn’t fielding calls from anybody. I never even looked at that.

“Once the decision was made to come back, it wasn’t really a difficult one to come back to Anaheim. We’ve enjoyed it there. The family is very comfortable there. I have good friends on the team. I feel excited just to be part of that club. I believe we have a lot of talent. I’m looking forward to another fun year and hopefully winning our share of games.”

Scott Niedermayer, set to turn 36 next month, said he will continue to take his career one season at a time. He has done exactly that since winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player during the Ducks’ 2007 Stanley Cup championship drive and then sitting out nearly half of the ensuing season while contemplating retirement.

A four-time Stanley Cup winner, including three championships while with the New Jersey Devils, Scott Niedermayer is the all-time scoring leader among Ducks defensemen with 216 points, including 50 goals, in 291 games. He played in all 82 regular-season games last year, ranking third among NHL defensemen with 59 points, including 14 goals, and added three goals and 10 points in 13 playoff games.

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 8 Comments

  • backcheck says:
    July 2, 2009 at 9:11 am

    props@Scott for the modest discount. he could have had a million or two more signing elsewhere. The $750K saving exceeds the league minimum depending how Murph uses it, could be huge.

    I’m okay with Todd Marchant & Rob Niedermayer moving on. We have the organizational depth to replace them.

    The Wisniewski negotiation is troubling. He’s looking for his 2nd contract and we gave up a Selke candidate to get him. Sammy signed with Columbus for 3yrs @ $2.65M per season. that seems about right for Wis as well.

    As for that established Dman, I like former Blues & Sabres rugged stay@homer Jay McKee. With Pronger & Beauchemin gone, we need to put some snarl back on the blue line. Unlike a Hedican, Festerling & Mikkelson, who are containment guys, McKee is mean and stays out of the sinbin.

    Do we have cap room to spend another $3.5 or so for another Top 6 forward? Brendan Morrison anybody? Just a bad joke, lol. Can we get Saku Koivu? I don’t know but it’s about time we got a play making vet and a buddy for Teemu Selanne. Koivu shoots L, which we need badly and would be passing on his forehand to Selanne.

  • erikshunn says:
    July 2, 2009 at 12:47 pm

    Saku Koivu? No way. Soft and extremely injury prone. Not what the Ducks need right now. Mikko Koivu on the other hand…

    I say let Carter, Miller and Bodie prove their worth. The Sabres are likely to sign Jay McKee…which is a bummer, I think he would be a good fit on the Ducks.

  • backcheck says:
    July 2, 2009 at 4:19 pm

    Not sure what you mean by “soft” Koivu plays a very aggressive game which gets him in trouble because of his size. He doesn’t shy away from a challenge on or off the ice.

    In each of past 4 seasons Koivu has played 65, 77, 82 & 72 games respectively. Okay, that might put him on a first name basis with the school nurse but it’s acceptable for the 50+ pts he brings.

    • erikshunn says:
      July 2, 2009 at 9:43 pm

      Clearly you like Saku, so I’m not going to try and argue with you. I will say this, he is one of the least aggressive players in the league. I honestly chuckled at “Koivu plays a very aggressive game which gets him in trouble because of his size. He doesn’t shy away from a challenge on or off the ice.”. I must have missed all of this aggressiveness displayed by Mr. Koivu. I will give him credit for being an undersized player who has managed to carve out a niche in the league. IMO he is in the same class as guys like Gionta, Samsonov, Sullivan and Andy McDonald. As far as injury prone goes…Tell me this, how many games did he play between the 99-00 and the 01-02 season? We already have a diminutive center who makes significantly less money in Andrew Ebbett. I’m sure that given a full season, he can match or better Koivu’s paltry 50 points from last season. Ducks should pass on Koivu and find another d-man.

      • backcheck says:
        July 3, 2009 at 1:48 am

        So long as disagreeing is respectful erik, I’m okay with it. We disagree on Koivu. We agree on Ebbett. The problem is Bob Murray disagrees with both us on Ebbett. He’s said a few times, he’d like to find a #2 center this summer. I wouldn’t be touting a #2 center had Murph not said he’s looking for one.

        • Dave says:
          July 6, 2009 at 1:41 pm

          Marchant is still super quick, and his hockey IQ is high…he needs to come back…even he said he would take a pay cut, just wants two more to make it worth it..