You'd think the National Hockey League was a small town, a high school, or a high school in a small town with the speed and way that word travels around. Within moments of word breaking that the Anaheim Ducks were shopping
Bobby Ryan, I received a message from somebody asking whether or not the Bruins were among those clubs interested in the goal-scoring winger.
But as callous as it read, I put it as simple as could: The B's are interested in Ryan. Along with the rest of the league.
Mired in the basement of the Pacific Division with the Anaheim Ducks -- whose 16 points are just one ahead of the NHL-worst Columbus Blue Jackets -- the need for change in Anaheim is perhaps as dire as it's ever been. The team can't score, they can't defend, and even
Jonas Hiller has succumbed to the plague of inconsistency that's haunted everyone from Beauchemin to Visnovsky. Outside of the ageless
Teemu Selanne's 22 in 23, nobody on the Ducks has produced at the pace they've come to anticipate. In other words -- Changes are coming. No, strike that, changes
have to come before heads start to roll.
So, who's the castaway?
It's guaranteed not to be the Ducks' untouchable trio of 19-year-old
Cam Fowler, captain
Ryan Getzlaf, or alternate captain and reigning Hart Trophy winner
Corey Perry. They're the rocks of Anaheim. It also won't be any veterans because that's better left for the trade deadline and simply wouldn't come with the return that the seemingly rebuilding Ducks need. That rules out
Jason Blake,
Saku Koivu, and Selanne, obviously. Okay, what about
Andrew Cogliano? Please, nobody's knocking down doors to obtain a first rounder who's down nothing but plummet since a 45-point rookie year, and if they are, they're probably not very good at their job.
That leaves us with Ryan, a 24-year-old who's done nothing but post one 30-goal season after another since arriving to the NHL as a full-time player in 2008-09. He's averaged a goal every 2.43 games, a point every 1.3 contests, has missed just one contest in his entire NHL career (due to the flu of all things), and is under contract from now until 2015 at a reasonable 5.1 million dollar cap-hit. Who would want to dump that?
For reasons that go beyond the numbers side of things, the Ducks would. It's no secret that the Ducks are in a rather tough spot here. The Ducks are 23rd in attendance this year, have just two wins in their last 18 contests, and have not had consecutive wins since the middle of October. And throughout all of it, the second overall pick from the 2005 Draft -- drafted one pick after
Sidney Crosby -- has become the perfect scapegoat. Ryan's on pace for 24 goals and 40 points this year (an uncontested career low) and he's yet to score on the power-play this year.
While that doesn't scare about buyers that see the natural goal-scoring ability of the New Jersey native, the selfish side of B's fans has been exposed with their desire to obtain Ryan by any means necessary. In search of that naturally gifted winger since the departure of
Phil Kessel, Ryan's resume is appealing, but is the cost? Talking to a few, it appears that the Ducks' asking price isn't exactly a bargain. They want a top-six center. A capable defensemen of today or tomorrow, along with a bundle of picks and/or prospects.
Again, is it worth it?
When starting a deal involving Ryan to Boston, it's fair to start with slumping center
David Krejci, who epitomizes the top-six center Anaheim's rumored to be seeking. Krejci, who has a tame three goals and 10 points in 19 games this year, is in the final year of a deal that pays him 3.75 million dollars with restricted free-agency looming.
However, it may not be fair to ditch the 25-year-old just yet -- even with the emergence of
Tyler Seguin and long-term deal to
Patrice Bergeron -- as Krejci's proven himself to be one of the most precious commodities for Boston when it matters most. The Czech-born center, who led the B's in points throughout their run to Lord Stanley last year, has 19 goals and 25 helpers in 52 career playoff contests, while the playoff adage of the B's has often become that the "Bruins will go as far as Krejci takes 'em."
Beyond Krejci, it becomes a matter of picks and prospects. As far as picks go, the B's don't have a second rounder in '12 by way of the
Chris Kelly trade, but possess a bounty of prospects that can leave one salivating.
(But, before you analyze what prospects are fair game, for the love of god throw out
Zach Hamill. I assure you that nobody values him as a make-or-break player for any blockbuster deal and if you guys barely want him, why would anyone else?)
Most notably, there's a player in the Boston system that meets the Anaheim needs in more than one facet. None other than blue-liner of tomorrow
Dougie Hamilton. Drafted by the B's with the 9th overall pick this past year, the 18-year-old Hamilton has become an OHL force in just his third season. At 6-foot-4, Hamilton has followed up a 58-point sophomore campaign with an otherworldly 11 goal and 27 assist start to a Niagara Ice-Dog season that's a mere 25 games old. Seriously.
And that's where the line in the sand is either crossed or drawn by a Boston front-office that's been extremely tentative when it comes to dealing away just about any of their prospects. Especially when you bring up Hamilton, who's by all means been prepped as the eventual successor to the soon to be 35-year-old
Zdeno Chara.
Just what picks, prospects, and roster players are fair game? It's hard to say, especially when looking at the current success of a club that's seized 23 out of a possible 24 points in November.
The best move Boston could make may very well be passing on a player who's averaged 33 goals a year since breaking into the NHL. That, my friends, tells me that we've officially reached the point of strange times here in Boston.
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