Anaheim Ducks fans, you ask, we answer. It’s our newest Friday Feature, the Monthly Mailbag.
Q1) Who is most likely to be traded this off-season?
Would you believe the Anaheim Ducks have only eight forwards and five defensemen (including Korbinian Holzer) signed for next season? Ondrej Kase, Nick Ritchie, and Brandon Montour are all restricted free agents. Obviously, the three of them will get nice raises this summer. When they do sign, it still leaves Anaheim three forwards and two defensemen short and close to $70M of cap space used.
Even if the cap goes up 3% (iffy) it would be $77.25M. Somebody needs to go and it will probably be Jakob Silfverberg. 2018-19 is the last year of his current contract that pays him $3.75M. GM Bob Murray is going to need that money in order to field a competitive team. Remember the Ducks have an internal budget which is a bit lower than the cap.
Adam Henrique is in the same contractual situation as Silfverberg and makes $250K more. The reason he stays over Silfverberg is that Henrique is a more flexible player. plus it’s hard to find top six centers for what he makes.
I think Murray should also deal Nick Ritchie. The former 10th overall pick in 2014 isn’t a bust, rather he hasn’t excelled under Randy Carlyle. A change of scenery would benefit his career. Ritchie’s trade value will continue drop, so he should be dealt sooner rather than later.