David Pagnotta: Irfaan Gaffar and Pagnotta on some ‘Market Rumblings.”
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Gaffar: “One of my favorite sayings in the National Hockey League, especially when we do these segments and lead out closer to teams wanting to make their teams better, is ‘open for business.’ And this team right now, the Anaheim Ducks, they are definitely that, Dave.
Pagnotta: “They are last in the Western Conference right now with five wins so far in the season. and they have a number of assets they can move, specifically, on the blue line.
They’ve got guys like John Klingberg and Kevin Shattenkirk, who’s on the IR right now. These are two guys on expiring contracts, going to be UFAs at the end of the season. They will draw interest. They are starting to already.
We’ve heard reports of Frank Vatrano. We know that Adam Henrique is going to be back in play for the Anaheim Ducks.
Really, if you’re interested in one of their veteran players, give Pat Verbeek a call. He is willing to listen. They’re going to be a team, I don’t think anything imminent to this stage. Yes we’ve heard the Vatrano reports. John Klingberg’s name is starting to creep up a little more.
Kevin Shattenkirk is a guy I think the Toronto Maple Leafs have at least been discussing internally as a potential option among others. They want someone, a veteran presence. a sturdy, reliable guy on that backend. Probably Luke Schenn, another guy in Vancouver, could draw some interest from the Leafs.
But from Anaheim’s perspective, they’re open for business. You’re going to start to hear discussions about the Ducks starting to pick up as the weeks kind of flow here. As we pass Thanksgiving in the U.S. on Thursday, going into December, the Ducks are going to be a very busy team leading up to the trade deadline.
Gaffar: “You mentioned open for business of players maybe leaving the Anaheim Ducks, but what about the Ducks and their cap space and taking on money?”
Pagnotta: “Ya, good point. They have a ton of cap space Irfaan. So this is a team that not only has assets to move, they could also be that third-party conduit that could take on a contract. Likely an expiring contract but help to free up some money for another team looking to make some additional assets.
We know where they stand right now. The Ducks are not going to be by all accounts competing for a playoff spot this season. So if they can bring in some additional assets. Gets some extra draft picks, some prospects, in exchange for that cap space, and paying somebody off for the rest of the season, that’s going to be another element to watch for Anaheim moving forward.
We didn’t even talk about the coach, who is on an expiring deal as well. But maybe that’s for another day.
