Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

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Sunday, July 01, 2007

Ducks reveal their hand and sign Schneider

Well, apparently the Ducks don't need a decision from Scott Niedermayer. The team announced today the signing of 38-year-old UFA defenseman Mathieu Schneider to a two-year, $11.25 M deal ($5.5 M this year, $5.75 M the next). It is kind of fitting:
  • In 2003, the Mighty Ducks lost in the playoffs to the New Jersey Devils. A season later, they signed the Devils' best defenseman.
  • In 2006, the Mighty Ducks lost in the playoffs to the Edmonton Oilers. Weeks later, they traded for the Oilers' best defenseman.
  • In 2007, the Ducks lost to nobody, but the team that almost beat them was the Detroit Red Wings. So this time, the Ducks only signed the Wings' second-best defenseman.

I was caught pretty off-guard by this news, of course. I assumed today was going to be a bigger Sharks or Kings newsday (although Joe Thornton signing a 3-year extension is still huge news), but Brian Burke certainly acted as if Niedermayer's retirement is a sure thing. Think about this: if Scott were to play his contract next year, that would mean that the Ducks' goalie and top four defensemen would cost roughly $26 M next year; that's more than half the salary cap.

And then the logical move, oddly enough, would probably be to trade away the newly-signed Schneider. Any way, I gotta digest this (and hear some concrete Niedermayer news) before I can offer more coherent thoughts on the Schneider acquisition properly. As always, your thoughts and insults are always welcome in the comments.

[Next morning edit: No matter whether Scotty N. decides to retire or not, I don't see how the Ducks' new acquisition avoids picking up the nickname "Schneidermayer". Yup. You heard it here first.]

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Thornton, we no longer have a Thornton trifecta for the BoC teams, now that Shawn Thornton is with the Bruins.

John said...

gotta think that with 27 on the verge of calling it quits, less becomes a priority to retain 44

Anonymous said...

The Ducks who really did not need to make, a move, and yet the Kings who need to do a lot of thing DID NOT DO ONE THING!!!!!! How does this look to your royal fans? Good signing for the Ducks although I am not happy.

Steph said...

Give me back my defenseman!

Or at least treat him well. He really is great if you give him the chance, especially quarterbacking the PP. Even though some people like to say he's washed up :b

andy grabia said...

What the status with Ketchup, Earl? Is he gonna retire or what? He sure hasn't been getting much love up here, anywhere up here, as a potential UFA signing.

Earl Sleek said...

Ketchup (a.k.a. Selanne) has been even more tight-lipped than Niedermayer, though my gut tells me he is leaning more towards retirement than Scott is.

He's a unique case, though, and I'd expect UFA talk to be muted, because he's essentially said he's only interested in returning to the Ducks if he plays. The way the money got spent, though, he might have to do another $1 M + bonuses deal.

Teemu (more than Scott) isn't really an urgent decision, though. He'll either fit in last under the cap/budget or the progression of the Kid line to first-line players will be accelerated a bit.

Bryan said...

At this point, I just don't see Niedermayer returning. And obviously Burke doesn't either. Schneider should help improve the Ducks PP. I never liked Niedermayer out there. On NJ, he played on their second PP line. What you miss from Niedermayer is his skating and ability to jump into a play, along with the obvious leadership. Nidermayer is by far in my top 3, while Schneider might make top 10 Dmen in the league, so he is definitely a decent sub. Then again Keith Carney got more votes than Schneider for the Norris Trophy. So what do I know?

Kyle said...

Looks like Schneider isn't the only ex-Wing in a Ducks outfit next season.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=212560&hubname=nhl

(If playing in only 8 regular season games and 16 post season games really makes you an ex-anything)

Charity said...

SCHNIEDERMAYER?!?!?!

ahahahhahahahahahahhahaha... god. this is why you get so much <3.