The Anaheim Ducks acquired another goalie this morning and now have four NHL caliber goaltenders under contract, something is going to happen.
The Anaheim Ducks acquired goaltender Dustin Tokarski from the Montreal Canadiens this morning in exchange for prospect Max Friberg.
John Gibson left last nights game with an apparent leg injury and this move first seemed to be something that would occur if his injury was serious. Well, Gibson was a full participant at practice this morning and he is said to be 100% healthy.
So it is pretty apparent that due to Gibson not being injured, another move is going to follow this one and you have to assume that either Anton Khudobin or Freddie Andersen will be traded.
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Moving Khudobin makes sense, his $1.3 million dollar buried cap hit would be gone and the Ducks would gain $737,500 in cap space as Tokarski’s cap hit is only $562,500 if he is playing with the Ducks and not the Gulls. It’s not a very significant amount of money, but it’s something.
However, this is the less significant deal. If Andersen is traded it would bring a lot in return for the Ducks.
Ducks general manager Bob Murray has made it clear that he does not want to move either Andersen or Gibson. But Did last night’s loss change things?
If the Tokarski trade had occurred on any other morning I likely would have first assumed that Khudobin was on his way out. But after a 4-0 loss at home to Toronto I now believe that Bob Murray has likely seen enough and needs to start making big moves.
So, is Freddie Andersen on his way out?
Moving Andersen does a few things. First, it saves money for this offseason when Murray will try to resign Hampus Lindholm, Rickard Rakell and Sami Vatanen.
Second, Andersen would bring a lot in return if he is traded. If he brings in picks and prospects, those pieces could then be packaged together to acquire a player like Jonathan Drouin. The Ducks don’t have a second round pick this year and that is something to consider as well with a possible Andersen trade.
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- Making the case for the Anaheim Ducks to trade with the Edmonton Oilers
- Anaheim Ducks might benefit tremendously by trading John Gibson
- How close are the Anaheim Ducks to becoming contenders again?
The third thing an Andersen trade does is the obvious point, it shakes things up drastically and it serves as a wake up call for a team that desperately needs one. Moving the goalie that just took your team to a game seven of the conference finals should create a stir in the locker room and show that nobody’s job is secure.
So what’s going to happen?
Well as I said earlier, the Tokarski trade occurred the morning after an embarrassing loss at home and it makes me think that it could be Andersen who is moved. That allows Murray to acquire significant pieces to a bigger puzzle, one that could bring in a big name guy to help the Ducks get back to past seasons form.
However, Bob Murray has stayed extremely patient with his young goaltenders to this point so things may not change. It could be Khudobin who is moved to clear that small amount of buried cap hit. The Ducks are a budget team with little money to waste so this is definitely not out of question.
Regardless of which move occurs, something will happen. You don’t keep four NHL caliber goaltenders on your roster just for fun. As much as the AHL San Diego Gulls miss John Gibson now that he is with the Ducks full time, I’ve never seen an NHL GM go out and acquire two NHL level goaltenders to help out his affiliate team. Keeping Khudobin and Tokarski in San Diego is illogical.
The next 48 hours should be interesting and twitter should be buzzing.
Salary cap information via Generalfanager