Sweden-Bound Kyle Cumiskey Attempts to Free His NHL Rights from the Ducks

Kyle Cumiskey’s NHL rights are currently owned by the Anaheim Ducks, but Eric Stephens of OC Register’s Ducks Blog reports that Cumiskey is attempting to change that.

Cumiskey spent last season playing with former Ducks AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch, scoring 6 goals and tallying 29 points. Cumiskey became a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Although Anaheim submitted a qualifying offer, the the 25 year old defenseman did not accept a contract with club. In response, the Ducks took Cumiskey to arbitration, where a one-year, two-way deal ($744,000 NHL, $105,000 AHL) was awarded.

It appears Cumiskey has no plans to play in the NHL or AHL this season, having already signed a contract with Modo of the Swedish Elite League, and Stephens reports that Cumiskey and his agent are challenging Anaheim’s right to take him to arbitration, though their reasoning for this has not been clarified.

Currently, were Cumiskey to decide to return to playing hockey in North America, the Anaheim Ducks would retain his rights as the result of their arbitration hearing. However, if he and his agent are successful in freeing his rights, Cumiskey would become a free agent upon his return.

As Stephens states in his article, there is a lot more to come out of this story. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

Jer is ready for the players who actually want to play for the team. Follow him on Twitter @JerMeansWell.