The Anaheim Ducks have stayed quiet so far this offseason and while it’s unlikely they’ll make any major additions, they shouldn’t be afraid to leverage their cap flexibility.
The team has about $17.5 million in cap space – not even including potential LTIR space from Ryan Kesler’s contract. Many teams around the league would likely still love to offload salary and Anaheim should recognize this and look to capitalize on it, considering the Ducks aren’t going to be competitive anytime soon. While trading some of their veterans could kickstart a full rebuild, the team shouldn’t hesitate to take on bad contracts as well, in exchange for future assets.
Just look at what the Arizona Coyotes have done. This offseason, they've acquired Loui Eriksson, Andrew Ladd, Anton Stralman, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel and Shayne Gostisbehere, in order to stockpile future assets. In taking on these bad contracts (along with dealing some roster players), the Coyotes have acquired a significant amount of assets, to the point where they’re now stocked with two first-round picks next year, as well as five second-round picks.
Now look at the New York Islanders, as an example. The Islanders would certainly be interested in getting rid of Thomas Hickey or Leo Komarov and if they were willing to give up a draft pick to do it, why wouldn’t the Ducks take advantage?
So far, Anaheim hasn’t really engaged in deals like this, with the David Backes trade being the only recent example. While we don’t know whether the team has an internal cap and there are also a couple restricted free agents still in need of contracts, the team isn’t anywhere near the salary cap and could likely afford to take on a couple contracts.
Cap space isn’t going to be a concern for the Ducks in the coming years, which is one of the few blessings of their current situation. If they’re able to take on some bad contracts in exchange for assets, they should certainly capitalize on the opportunity.
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Do you think the Ducks should be willing to acquire bad contracts to add future assets?
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