Rumor Mill

The trade deadline is rapidly approaching and the Ducks are in an interesting position. They are most likely to be sellers, however, if the Ducks continue to win a lot of games and close in on the playoffs, then they might be keeping more players than if they were to be sellers. Here’s somethings to keep an eye on.

The Ducks are about 11 points out of a playoff spot. Before the season, I thought the Ducks would be around 11 points ahead of 8th place, but because of some tough times, they are now way behind and need to crawl back up. 31 games left in the regular season and they have to make up 11 points, that could be done, but a lot would have to happen. If it doesn’t happen, the Ducks have some players that contenders or near contenders would be interested in.

Most notably, we’ve all heard the talk of trading Bobby Ryan. Now, as much as I don’t want to admit this, I wouldn’t put it behind GM Bob Murray to trade Bobby Ryan, especially to Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto is in need of some playoff experience and a big power forward, or in other words, a Bobby Ryan. He’s young, extremely talented and if Toronto acquired him, they would have a team loaded with many good young players. If that trade were to work out, the Ducks would ask for either Joe Colborne or Nazem Kadri, a prospect and a 1st round pick. However, the Ducks have also been rumored to discuss a trade with the Maple Leafs for Ryan Getzlaf. I remember there was a trade rumor circulating on a Getzlaf for Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke MacArthur and a 1st round pick. Both Ryan and Getzlaf seem like logical choices for the Leafs. I would much rather have the Ducks deal Getzlaf than Ryan, but that’s just me.

We’ve also heard the Teemu Selanne trade rumors back to the Winnipeg Jets, however the Ducks want Selanne to retire as a Duck and so does Selanne, he wants to stay, so I really don’t think there’s any chance of that happening. Another veteran forward the Ducks have that could also be on the move is Jason Blake. He’s in the last deal of his contract and he looks like the typical veteran rental for a playoff team. Chicago Blackhawks beat writer Tim Sassone tweeted that he would think Blake would really help out the Blackhawks. Which I could definitely see, relatively young team that could use another veteran influence. Also, Blake has proven how he can be valuable, since he’s come back from injury, the Ducks have played extremely better.

Another veteran that could be moved is defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky. I thought fellow defenseman Francois Beauchemin would also be rumored to be traded, but since his new contract extension, I feel like Lubo is almost definitely to be moved if the Ducks can’t close in on a playoff berth. The Blackhawks could also be a good position for Lubo just like Blake, however, Lubo is a bit expensive. He’s under contract for next year for $3 million but is a $5.6 million salary cap hit. Another destination could be the New Jersey Devils. Right now they are in a close race in the East and could use another good offensive defenseman to go along with rookie Adam Larsson.

Now, all of this depends on how the Ducks play within the next few weeks. LIke I said, if the Ducks continue to win, none of this or a little of this could happen, but if the Ducks blow a tire, some more moves could be made. To be up to date on all trade rumors and not just Ducks trade rumors, go to www.mynhltraderumors.com.

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