Plenty of Questionmarks in Anaheim

nordiques100 writes "

After a disappointing first round defeat to the Dallas Stars, the Anaheim Ducks are looking to avoid the fate teams such as the Carolina Hurricanes and the Tampa Lightning faced after winning their Stanley Cups. The Ducks are looking to not fall into the trap of deteriorating into a flukey one year wonder.

As we have seen with Tampa and Carolina, those teams fell on hard times, missing the playoffs and in Tampa's case plummeting to the bottom of the NHL.
That is unlikely to happen to Anaheim as they are still a pretty talented team. They have a top goalie in JS Giguere, a rock on D in Chris Pronger and two stud forwards in Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Their nucleus is strong enough to get back to being successful.
The hope is that the team does not get engulfed in all the distractions that are surrounding this team as we speak. There are several issues the team needs to sort out before it can finally focus on building a winning tradition in Anaheim.
The legal issues facing owner Henry Samueli need to find some closure. His problems could deeply impact the team and their ability to spend. In fact, the problems he is facing could lead the Ducks to dump salary if things turn out worse.
The problems could also lead to Brian Burke leaving the Ducks after next season. The oldest rumour out there has him moving somewhere east to be closer to his family. That could definitely happen. The fact that he hasnt signed an extension with Anaheim after being offered it months ago only drives up the rumours that he will definitely leave. This is definitely something the Ducks need to sort out. If Burke wants to leave, they mind as well find someone who wants to stay long term.
The team also needs to sort out what it will do with stars Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer. Bringing them in mid year did not work out and they really need these two to not be just part time players. The Ducks need a commitment from them otherwise the team should replace them completely. It only hurts team chemistry to have the team sit around and wait for their arrival. If they want to be part of it, they should be there from the beginning of camp like everyone else.
On top of all this, they have holes to fill, cap issues and a key free agent to re-sign. For now, they have one of the best hockey bosses in the league and a good coach. That plus the talented players they do still have should prevent the Ducks from falling too far off the map. But they better get at resolving some of these issues they are facing.
Here is how the team looks heading into the off-season
2008-09 CAP HIT - $50 million for 17 players.
The Ducks have cap issues. But they could clear up if Niedermayer does decide to not return. They have pretty much a full roster under contract, save one big name RFA, but will not be able to fill in a few of the holes they have on the team, like offence. They moved Marc Andre Bergeron to clear up some space and may drop veterans Brad May and Todd Marchant to further lower their cap burden. Their spots can easily be filled by younger, cheaper players making the league minimum.
UFA – Teemu Selanne, Doug Weight, Joe Dipenta, JS Aubin, Bruno St Jacques, Mark Mowers
RFA – Corey Perry, Jason King, Gerald Coleman, Andrew Miller, Ryan Carter, Brian Sutherby
Selanne is likely going to retire so the team will not really have to worry about him and getting him under contract. But Perry is their most important piece they do need to re-sign. After seeing Lupul and Penner leave, the team cannot afford to lost yet another good young forward. He is one of the few pure offensive players the team has and is growing into a team leader. There is fear another team will pick on the Ducks and try an offer sheet for Perry, like the Oilers did last year for Penner. No doubt this time however the Ducks will match any offer. Perry is too good a player to lose. The team hopefully can sign Miller and Carter to reasonable contracts. They will be the cheap, young options the team needs to fill out their roster.
Under Contract:
Goal – JS Giguere, Jonas HIller
Giguere is a stud in goal and winning the cup vaulted him to the upper echelon in the league. The Ducks were as good as they were last year because of Giguere. This despite the fact the team could not score. He kept the scores low and close and proved quite capable of winning games by himself. He is perhaps now their most indespensible player. They no longer have the safety net of a top backup like Ilya Bryzgalov behind Giguere. They needed that with Giguere being prone to injury. However Hiller was pretty solid and should be quite capable of affording JS a night off.
Defence – Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Mathieu Schnieder, Sean O'Donnell, Kent Huskins, Francois Beauchemin
The Ducks have one of the deepest bluelines in the NHL. However they are an aging bunch and Niedermayer may not be back. Skill wise, Pronger and Schneider are excellent point producers who can shoulder the offensive load even if Niedermayer does not return. Niedermayer is however one of the absolute best at rushing the puck and his skating and puck moving ability is matched by very few. Pronger and Schneider bring big bombs from the point and are dangerous weapons on the PP. They are just not the kind of all around playmaker Niedermayer is who hurts you with speed, skill and smarts. Beauchemin is an ok secondary offensive option but he needs to be better. Defensively the team could put together two shut down pairs if Niedermayer came back. With him on one pair and Pronger on another, they would be fairly effective and covering opponents top two scoring lines. Beauchemin relished that role in the playoffs when they made their championship run but he really missed Niedermayer and needs him in order to get back to being an elite defender most thought he was going to be from that playoff. The team could use an infusion of youth and hopefully they can work in a couple of their young blueline prospects into their roster.
Forward – Todd Bertuzzi, Ryan Getzlaf, Todd Marchant, Rob Niedermayer, Samuel Pahlsson, Chris Kunitz, Travis Moen, Brad May, George Parros
The Duck's biggest need is to improve it's offence. Getzlaf and Perry form an excellent top line but they lack the necessary support around them. Selanne either needs to be around a full season or someone else with similar scoring prowess needs to be brought in. They need some players to play with Bertuzzi. Most preferable would be a solid playmaking centre but another sniper is necessary as well. Perry is capable of being a 40 goal man and Getzlaf could chip in with 30 goals and 80 plus points. Kunitz is their only other weapon with Bertuzzi and they are hoping for 20 goals at least from each of them. But Bertuzzi struggled with some injuries and without anyone to get him the puck. The team got no offence from their 3rd and 4th lines and that needs to change. The team might turn to players like Miller, Carter and top prospect Bobby Ryan to maybe give them more offensive minded players in those roles. Not one of their forwards in the bottom half of the roster had over 10 goals. When they are on, the line of Rob Niedermayer with Pahlsson and Moen are a top checking unit. It would be better though if they could chip in more offensively.
Top Prospects
Goal: JP Levasseur
Levasseur will be given plenty of time to develop. With the team signing Hiller for 2 more years and Giguere already signed long term, there is no need for their top goalie prospect to be rushed. Like most young French Canadian goalies, Levasseur is mastering the butterfly style and having a veteran like Giguere as a mentor and goalie guru Francois Allaire providing tutelege, Levasseur should develop into a solid player.
Defence: Brendan Mikkelson, Brian Salcido, Mark Mitera, John Degray
The Ducks are in need of an infusion of youth on defence. Mitera is a stay at home type who could add a physical presence to the D. They wont rush him and are fairly happy to leave him to finish off his College career. Mikkelson faired decently in his first taste of pro hockey. Should injuries hit the team, he just may get a shot at playing with the Ducks this upcoming season. Salcido is more of an offensive minded blueliner who may also get a shot at a few games with Anaheim this season.

Forward: Bobby Ryan, Logan MacMillan, Eric Tangradi, Matt Belesky, Andrew Ebbett, Geoff Platt

Ryan is the team's top prospect and showed signs he was ready for the NHL. He followed a decent first full season of minor pro with a very good playoff. He did not look too out of place in his brief stint with the Ducks last year and based on his skill, should find a roster spot next season. The team is hopeful he is the big scorer the team missed last year. The Ducks bolstered their forward ranks adding MacMillan and Tangradi with their first two picks in 2007. MacMillian is not a big scorer but brings a good all around game while Tangradi is yet another big forward who can hopefully fill a big hole up the middle in time. He got some good big game experience helping his junior team to the Memorial Cup.

It will be interesting to see what direction the Ducks take in the 2008 draft. They do not have any of their picks in the first 3 rounds, but instead have all of the picks belonging to Edmonton as compensation for Penner. This gave the Ducks the 12th overall pick and they should find a quality player then. Size is a fairly important trait for the Ducks and its possible they may target the biggest player in defenceman Tyler Myers. At 6'7 he may be a bit of a project but would be a good piece of the puzzle to add, especially considering their need for more youth on D. They could also target Colten Teubert if he too is still around at 12. They could also target big forwards like Mikhail Stefanovich, Jared Staal, Josh Brittain or Joe Colborne. Its also possible the pick could be moved where the Ducks would move down in the draft and ac*****ulate extra picks. But dont put it past Burke to even try to move up. He could very well want one of the top end blueliners available like a Luke Schenn or Zach Bogosian and has never been afraid to wheel and deal.

Whatever the Ducks decide to do, the most immediate need is to figure out how long Burke is going to stay, the team's financial and ownership situation and getting a firm answer before the season where veterans like Selanne and Niedermayer stand. Things got a bit too comfortable in Anaheim after winning the championship and there needs to return the dedication and desire that brought the Cup to Orange County in the first place. There needs to be that 100 percent commitment again if the Ducks want to get back to the upper echelon. The pieces are there to make a solid run again, they just need to will to succeed here to make it happen.