It’s just past noon and the free agency frenzy has been underway for since early this morning. The biggest moves in the league today are easily Jason Spezza to Dallas and Ryan Miller joining the Vancouver Canucks. Other moves include Thomas Vanek joining the Minnesota Wild and Paul Stasny leaving Colorado to join St. Louis.
But the Ducks lost three players today. First to depart was Matthieu Perreault, he joined the Winnipeg Jets for three years for $3 million a year. I would have liked to re-sign Perreault, I felt he had moments where he was a great player, and other moments were he wasn’t so involved.
Hiller was done at the end of the year unless the Ducks won the cup with him starting. Management felt that his time had come and gone, and they replaced him with a young duo of Frederik Andersen and John Gibson. Hiller joined Calgary for two years worth $9 million.
Not re-signing Stephane Robidas was disppointing, after we saw his drive to make the Ducks better, his emotion after breaking his leg for the second time was tear jerking. He never had much of a chance to show everyone what he was about. But I believe management felt that after the second break that his leg wouldn’t be the same, and it may never be. But the Toronto Maple Leafs are giving Robidas a shot. I’m kind of surprised because Robidas wanted to go to the a cup contender. His mindset may have changed after an offer to play in Toronto for three years. Robidas will earn $9 million for his tenure.
The Ducks did make an acquisition today as they signed defenseman Clayton Stoner for four years worth $13 million. He’s big, blocks shots, isn’t afraid to drop the gloves and has a decent shot. Guess we’ll see how he pans out this season.
Anaheim Ducks Talk 