Ducks Gameday—Burke Week #5: Finale

Colorado Avalanche (9-10-0, t-12th in west) at Anaheim Ducks (11-8-3, t-4th in west)


Ah, we finally arrive at the conclusary installment of Burke Week, a five-day gander back at the Anaheim legacy of Brian Burke.

Part I: Defending three "bad" Burke moves that I don't think were that bad.
Part II: Criticizing three Burke moves that I don't think get enough flak.
Part III: Nothing but shout-outs.
Part IV: What I like about Burke the roster-builder.

And now we arrive at Part V: Scattered final thoughts, where I squeeze everything I've missed into a final post for the series. We'll start with some counterpoint: Two things that I didn't like about Burke the roster-builder.

Regret One: Europe, Where Art Thou?

Since Brian Burke's second year in Anaheim, there has been a fairly rigid three-player maximum on players from Europe -- Teemu Selanne from Finland, Sammy Pahlsson from Sweden, and the back-up goalie (first Ilya Bryzgalov from Russia, now Jonas Hiller from Switzerland), but before Burke arrived, Anaheim used to be a melting pot. Burke rid the team of Vitaly Vishnevski (Russia), Ruslan Salei (Belarus), Niclas Havelid (Sweden), Sandis Ozolinsh (Latvia), Petr Sykora (Czech Republic), Sergei Fedorov (Russia), and Ladislav Smid (Czech Republic), among others. Think about this: in 2003 the Ducks went to the Stanley Cup Finals with zero Canadians on their blueline. In 2007 the Ducks won the Stanley Cup with zero non-Canadians on their blueline.

It became very clear over Burke's tenure what sort of player he was building around -- skilled or not, he wanted North American skaters in nearly every roster slot. Now I don't want to attack this mindset too badly -- you can still make an impressive team from mostly one continent. However, one only had to look at the success of Swedish forwards on Detroit or the Finnish forwards on Dallas (or really, the European contribution to any team's success) to see that Burke's one-continent focus was biased against plenty of world-class talent.

It's one reason that I'm not upset to see Brian Burke leave -- he certainly did very good work while he was here, but I don't think too many years of Europe-phobia is good for an NHL franchise. By artificially limiting the available talent pool, the Ducks seemingly ignored a source for creativity and puck control -- and I think that they would be well-served to reintroduce that intercontinental element into their post-Burke philosophy. I just hope that Bob Murray has an open mind to the contributions of overseas players; I think it's an element the Ducks have been missing.

Regret Two: How Bad is Burke at the Entry Draft?

I don't follow prospects that well, so I can't really tell you how much more barren Anaheim's prospect pool is compared to when Burke arrived, but I assume it's been rather depleted. One of the problems, I assume, is Brian Burke's draft record, which will have to be judged in future years, but based on reputation and what I have seen looks unimpressive thus far.

I guess the indicting argument against Burke's draft record is that I believe Bobby Ryan and Brett Festerling represent the only players that Burke has drafted that have tasted NHL ice, and Ryan was selected in a high-expectation slot (2nd overall, one spot behind Sidney Crosby). I'm definitely not an expert here, but I'd expect that a draft-savvier GM would have accumulated more NHL-ready players by now (though granted, a lot of Anaheim's top picks were sent to Edmonton in the Pronger deal). I think it's premature for any hard criticism here (and a lot may be based on Bobby Ryan alone), but so far, it's tough to spot where Burke's draft record has served the Ducks very much.

Of course, there is a flipside to this criticism, which is that Burke has demonstrated that it's possible to build teams almost entirely outside of the draft -- the 2007 cup squad had very few players who were actually drafted by Anaheim (I believe Getzlaf, Perry, and Bryzgalov). Also, with Dave McNab finding lots of talent outside the draft (Anaheim's undrafted talent includes Andy McDonald, Dustin Penner, Chris Kunitz, Ryan Shannon, Ryan Carter, and Jonas Hiller), perhaps the importance of the draft is overstated. Still, the entry draft is a definite source to replenish talent, and it may prove that Burke's draft mediocrity hampers the Ducks in the near future.

But let's not overlook the upside.

I don't want to end Burke Week on all sour notes, though. Even with his drawbacks, Burke did transform the team's image from a Disney sidestory into one of the west's top teams. Burke became a source for franchise legitimacy -- I don't know if the team lands a Scott Niedermayer or a Chris Pronger without the presence of Brian Burke, and I don't know if a Mathieu Schneider or a Brendan Morrison even seriously considers the franchise as a signing option. Burke had the clout to trade away a high-priced Sergei Fedorov and a high-priced Mathieu Schneider for spare parts, and the bravery to stand behind moves like the waiving of Ilya Bryzgalov.

Basically, no matter his flaws and strengths, Burke was a high-profile GM and hockey personality, and he added relevance to the Anaheim Ducks. His coming to SoCal legitimized the franchise and fixed its focus on winning, and without that, the team's fortunes could have gone in a very different direction -- probably one without a Stanley Cup. There's definitely been some baggage to Brian Burke, but the upside has been pretty spectacular.

What I'll miss most about Brian Burke:
What I'll miss least about Brian Burke:

The answer to both of these is his mouth, which has definitely been a regular source for amusement, but also has diverted many of my blogging man-hours to defending the guy's often-malicious quotes. For better or worse, there is no topic in hockey that Brian Burke is too timid to discuss, usually with the spirit of antagonism. There's no doubt that I'm going to miss that mouth -- it sure beats the usual media-timidness that most hockey personalities have, but I won't lie. It's also going to be nice to have a little less controversy coming from the GM's mouth, as well.

Entertaining quotes occasionally do come at a price, not only in terms of franchise perception but also with burnt bridges as well. Anyone want to put an over/under on the number of months before we see another Anaheim-Edmonton trade?

A classic example of Burke's mouth making headlines.
Bottom Line: Overall, I'm a huge Burke supporter, even though over Burke Week I've split my positives and negatives pretty evenly. The upsides to having a strong-willed GM far outweigh the drawbacks (though it's important to remember those, as well). As a Ducks blogger, I've never had much desire to interview Ducks players (though nobody's really given me any opportunity) -- generally, I am disgusted enough with bland cliches that I don't think I'd do very well in that setting. That said, I would have loved to have an opportunity to interview Brian Burke -- even though the interview would have been generally awful (I'd probably conduct it at a bar and wouldn't write or record anything), I imagine shooting the shit with Burke would be ten times as entertaining as doing the same with any player.

Ultimately, Burke built a Stanley Cup Champion team in Anaheim, and nothing should take away from that. We'll miss you, Burkie, and wish you limited success in Toronto/wherever.

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So that's the scattered last chapter of my Burke Week -- I definitely had a lot to say about the guy and what he did in Anaheim. For the comments, what's your final analysis? What grade would you give Brian Burke for his GM job in Anaheim, and how much do you think he will be missed? Any final thoughts are welcome in the comments.

Prediction: Ducks win 4-2. Goals by Ryan, Getzlaf, Pahlsson, and Pronger.

Go Ducks.

Ducks Gameday—Burke Week #4: GM Lessons from a Cup Champ

Anaheim Ducks (10-8-2, 7th in west) at St. Louis Blues (6-8-2, 15th in west)
Ducks had better have a better start or somebody's going to the dentist!

So for Part IV of this series, I thought I'd take a look at some of the ways that Burke was a very good general manager -- things that worked for the Ducks not only on their Cup run but also looking forward. Think of these as a bit of a primer for good ol' Bob Murray, or more accurately, Part IV: What I like about Burke the roster-builder.

Lesson One: If you want depth, don't acquire depth players; instead insert talent at the top of your roster.

While I've stated before that I’m not overly impressed that Burke had the "wisdom" to acquire Niedermayer, Selanne, or Pronger, I don’t want to take away from the fact that Burke knew what he was going after – a superstar. His focus wasn’t on filling in his roster with supplementary depth players, though he certainly put those pieces in place as well; he was looking to acquire top-flight players for the top end of his roster and let his existing roster form the depth. Not only was a superstar able to drop players down to more manageable roles, but Carlyle could even form a legitimate pairing with Scott Niedermayer and a league-minimum Francois Beauchemin, for example, and further benefit from an all-star's abilities. In a nutshell, if you ask me how Burke was able to build a cup winner, the answer is that he took a franchise with a lot of supporting parts and inserted talent at the top. By doing so, he made everyone more effective.

Lesson Two: Shelter your kids – It’s good for them and it’s good for you.

I think the way Getzlaf and Perry were brought into the league was phenomenal. Their rookie year they were played as fourth-liners, with Todd Fedoruk watching their backs – a very no-pressure environment to learn the ropes of the NHL. To effectively remove them from Calder consideration, they were even demoted for a month or so to the AHL Pirates, but played together throughout. Their sophomore year they moved up to second-liners, still sheltered from top defenders (Selanne drew those matchups) and top scorers (Pahlsson of course got those). That year was of course the cup year, so needless to say it worked out well. Then finally last year, their contract year, they were given responsibilities as top-liners, and having been groomed for the role they delivered. The payoff to the Ducks was two well-prepared top-liners who not only proved their abilities but also signed at reasonable rates ($5.6 million apiece, which certainly could have been worse). That salary in part has to do with their limited time on the top line – by holding them back not only were they better prepared but also had less career points come contract time. This also holds true for Bobby Ryan, who I can only speculate on his worth, but will certainly have limited NHL exposure come contract time two summers from now. It will be interesting to see how good Bobby Ryan becomes, or how prepared for NHL duty he is, and how much his sheltering pays off in his next contract for Anaheim.

Lesson Three: Be true to your players and they’ll be true to you.

I can't think of one time Brian Burke didn’t righteously stand up for one of his players in Anaheim – no matter how stupid or how idiotic it was. It’s one reason Brian Burke is as hated as he is by rival fans, but probably one reason why players seem so loyal to him. Whether it’s Bertuzzi’s suckerpunch, Pronger’s elbows or skateblade, Selanneidermayer’s semi-retirements, or even softer stuff like Giguere dealing with his baby’s health – Burke is front-and-center deflecting criticism and supporting his guys. He’s done seemingly honorable things in waiving Bryzgalov and proving Giguere with a no-movement clause, and I think there's payoff to those moves -- I know players are loathe to say anything controversial, but I haven't heard any player critical of Burke, even guys who have left under tough circumstances (Penner, McDonald, Schneider, Bertuzzi). Whether or not fans like or dislike what Brian Burke has to say, it does seem that players do respond favorably to it, and I think that perception is helpful in luring free agents to sign or players to re-sign.

Lesson Four: No Long-Term Deals ... Flexibility = Positivity!

This is a big one for me, too. Brian Burke has committed to two 5-year deals (Getzlaf and Perry), four 4-year deals (both Niedermayers, Kunitz, and Giguere), and only a few 3-year deals (McDonald and Carter, notably). He’s also acquired two deals with 4 years remaining (Marchant and Pronger). He’s stayed away from mammoth-year contracts, though, and I’m glad he’s done so. Burke hasn’t crippled rosters seven or eight years from now, and that has to be the wise move -- with a changing NHL landscape and a newly-implemented salary cap, it's tough to foresee what player values will be five years down the road. Now don't get me wrong -- I'm not against all long-term deals (I once advocated a fifteen-year deal for Getzlaf), but I'm glad it's not a crutch that Burke used to lure players to Anaheim. I think GMs who do that are selfish -- they are trying to win now while risking their franchise's ability to win in the future (partially it's because of mixed motivations -- the roster seven years from now is likely going to be a replacement GM's problem). So while many like to say that Burke has ruined the Ducks, it doesn't seem a long-term problem; in two or three years there will hardly be any Burke contracts on the books at all.

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So that's some of the positive GM lessons that Burke has demonstrated; if you feel like I've missed anything, feel free to add your own lesson from Burke in the comments. Part V I'll try to do a wrap-up; some GM lessons I didn't like, what I'll miss most and least about the guy (first in both categories: his mouth), and a conclusion.

Prediction: Bob Murray's Ducks 5, Andy Murray's Blues 2. Goals by Perry, Ryan, Morrison, Pahlsson, and Montador.

Go Ducks.

Brian Burke Week Part III: Nothing but shout-outs

Time to take a break from my normally scheduled Burke Week -- tomorrow I'll get to the positive GM lessons we can learn from the Burke. Today instead I'm just going to toss a few links and call it a day (partially because I feel bad just tossing these at the end of a long post; mostly because I'm lazy).

First off, in keeping with Burke-themed tradition, I was a guest again on The Rink Podcast this week to talk about what the Burke departure means for Anaheim. I'm the first of three guests in a virtual All-Star Game of blog guests -- Steve Lepore of Puck the Media also talks about Versus ratings, and Alanah McGinley of Canucks and Beyond talks about Roberto Luongo's shutout streak. Not my strongest work, but then again, podcasting ain't my forte.

Secondly, I wanted to give an update on the guy sometimes known as Kyle J and sometimes known as "the Swede" -- our mysterious comic book contributor here at BoC (Episode 1: Toronto, Episode II: Detroit). Well since his BoC debut, Comic Book Guy has taken the new name "Good Kyle", and has started his own multi-faceted blog: Good Kyle Versus Evil Kyle. I've added the link under "Hockey + Cartoons = Awesome", even though hockey cartoons seems to be a small portion of what that blog is offering. Good Kyle assures me that there's more hockey-themed artwork coming, though, and sent this image as a token of good positivity:

Why so sad?
And lastly and leastly, I also stayed Burke-themed on today's PuckToon. It was a rush-job, no doubt, but I'm not dissatisfied with the result. Enjoy!

Bobby Ryan = Positivity! Go Ducks.

Ducks Gameday—Burke Week #2: Let's get critical!

Washington Capitals (10-4-3, 4th in east) at Anaheim Ducks (10-7-2, t-4th in west)
NHL's other poster child is in town.

Welcome to the second installment of Brian Burke Week, as I ponder back on the Anaheim yester-legacy of the mouthy one. Yesterday I made a case for three moves that I think Burke gets too much flak for; today it's time for Part II: Criticizing three Burke moves that I don't think get enough flak.

A few things (1) I'm not going to include the Todd Bertuzzi signing; that one's so obviously bad that I don't know if it's worth discussing. Just know that my list has these three things plus signing Todd Bertuzzi. I'm still not passing judgment on Brendan Morrison, either (he gets a free pass for a while because two knowledgeable Canucks fans I talked to were shocked that B-Mo was even playing already). (2) I am not saying that any of these moves are guaranteed to fail -- there's still judgment to be made on all of them. It's just that we should keep all these things in mind when remembering Brian Burke. (3) I am not talking about his draft record until later this week.

1. The J.S. Giguere Contract

Sleek's initial reaction: Thanks, Giguere. We may never know what he passed up by signing this contract today and not waiting for a desperate team on July 1st, but I gotta think he would have landed somewhere upwards of $7 M per year, and he probably could have landed something in the 6-year range. Hooray for ambiguous savings!

Now don't get me wrong; I'm quite a fan of J.S. Giguere, and he's still going to be my #1 goalie whenever I get around to posting Anaheim's All-Time Team (a shout-out to my fellow slackers!). But still, not a week goes by that I don't worry about that no movement contract -- $6 million against the cap for two years beyond this one. Now I fully understand why Giguere earned the raise, coming off a Stanley Cup and all, and I have to guess he turned down bigger money to stay in Anaheim. And I know that there's good reasons for the no-movement clause (Burke looked good there because Giguere's newborn child was under local medical care). But still, we're four years into this salary cap and I'm still unsure what the value of goaltenders really should be -- it's not just a question of value on the ice (demand), but also a function of the players available that can do it (supply). And for a team that's invested so heavily in its blueline, was a $6 M goaltender even that necessary?

For the record, I was very happy with Giguere's play last year; I thought he certainly was a $6M goaltender, or at least close enough, but that's the thing -- almost at best, this contract works out. If Giguere becomes average or worse (coughTurco!cough), that can quickly become a handicap, especially for a netminder's contract. If good goalie contracts have to be given away, then bad goalie contracts have to be swallowed. Also, the contract probably means that Jonas Hiller will be goaltending elsewhere in the coming years. One really has to ask the question, though -- if the Ducks really had cheaper alternatives in Ilya Bryzgalov and Jonas Hiller that could sit behind the "best blueline in history", should Burke have let Giguere sign elsewhere the summer after the cup win? Could he have used an extra couple million on his forwards?

I'm honestly not sure here -- there's certainly a playoff monster in J.S. Giguere that I've never seen anything like, and if that ever shows itself again, Brian Burke will be a god for the contract. I really only bring it up because it's a pretty big risk, especially if a team like Detroit can spend significantly less on its netminding and more on its skill players. I probably would have preferred a shorter contract (the Ducks' two most successful postseasons have come in J.S. Giguere's last two contract years, I think). We shall see how we feel about it later; it's all up to Giguere now.

2. Buying Out Todd Bertuzzi's Contract

Sleek's initial take: I didn't say anything useful on this one. But doesn't it look like Todd Bertuzzi is telling some fans to "suck on this"?

Yeah, I know I wasn't going to bring up the Bertuzzi signing, but this is a different matter entirely -- once that contract was signed and a year in, should Burke have bought it out? For those not tuned in to cap math, basically what it amounts to is instead of paying Bertuzzi $4M this year, the Ducks will pay him $1.33M this year and next to not play for them, plus of course paying some player to fill in on a top-six role (Brendan Morrison, give or take).

Now again, I don't want to be misunderstood here -- I am thrilled that the Ducks are playing without Bertuzzi. It's so nice to know that everyone backchecks again, or at least pretends to. And while Morrison has been an offensive letdown early, I'd still take him over Bert anytime. But still, I'm not sure I like that Burke went the buyout route -- it's always struck me that buyouts are what rich teams do, and SoCal's Anaheim is not one of those teams. Burke has effectively spent some of next year's money on a player not in a Duck uniform, and that sort of future-spending should be off-limits for a departing GM.

I really expected the Ducks to suck it up and carry Bertuzzi through his contract year, and I'm not sure it would have been that terrible. Part of what hurt the Ducks last spring, in my opinion, was that they had to carry around both Bertuzzi and Weight among their top six, and couldn't even play them together effectively -- neither guy wanted to shoot the puck or skate, and they were essentially passengers. With Weight departed and Bertuzzi finding a potential center in Ryan Carter (who made Bertuzzi stomachable by backchecking for two), I thought that the Ducks could carry one passenger on a scoring line and just not worry about the sunk cost. I reasoned that a one-year $4M gamble was more stomachable than the original two year gamble -- plus it's a contract year, why not?

Again, we shall see. It may turn out that I'm way wrong on this, and the $1.33M pre-spent next year doesn't impact next year's team much at all. Or perhaps Brendan Morrison could awaken and the Ducks could roll four dangerous lines, and I'll gladly rescind. But still, I probably would have just sucked it up and hid Bertuzzi in the lineup, or found another way to be rid of him (his contract, theoretically, gets more tradeable by the day). Buyouts probably shouldn't have been an option.

3. Becoming a Salary Cap Ceiling Team

This all is related to the notion that not that long ago, the Ducks were an incredibly cheap team. Remember the days when the top line of Kunitz-McDonald-Selanne was playing for about $2.5 million total and the Ducks were millions away from the cap ceiling? Of courses, raises had to happen, especially with the cup win, and I certainly do support most of Burke's maneuvering around Niedemayer and Selanne's semi-retirements. Still, as a result of all that reactionary GMing was that the Ducks quickly became a cap-ceiling team.

The sweet irony, of course, is that they have no business whatsoever being a cap-ceiling team. Playing in Southern California is a double-edged sword, revenue-wise (note: best I understand). For one, there's a pretty tepid fanbase -- ticket prices must remain low enough to keep fans coming. But also, because there are so many people in Southern California, neither the Ducks or Kings can ever collect on revenue sharing, even if needed. That's not a huge deal, but it does mean that on paper, the Ducks should be more near the salary midpoint than the ceiling. Burke got to spend up to the ceiling, but the real question is: What will Bob Murray be allowed to spend?

That's why the $1.33 M to Bertuzzi next year might not matter -- it prevents Anaheim from approaching the ceiling but that's probably going to happen anyway. Should Selanne for some reason retire, his unpaid salary would count against the cap, too, but that might be unspent cushion also. Overall, I'm not too worried -- I do mostly like the contracts that Burke has set up for next year -- Murray may fill in some spots cheap, but I think there's plenty of talent to work around. But it should be understood, Ducks fans and Burke fans -- there will be some natural letdown once payroll returns to a more rational level. To tell you the truth, I'm looking forward to those middling-spending ways -- it's only been one year, but serious cap math makes my head hurt; I'm much more comfortable "sort of" knowing what players' salaries are (you know, without having to know how many days they spend in Bakersfield).

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So that's Part II -- sorry it got so long-winded. Feel free to agree, disagree, add your Burke criticisms, or insert your own randomness in the comments. Part III is more positive, possibly tomorrow: What we can all learn from Burke the GM.

Prediction: As for this game tonight, oh yeah, some guy named Ovechkin's coming to town. I do feel obligated to report that I was in Anaheim to see Ovechkin's first career hat trick, so just to avoid any suspicion I'm staying home tonight. Anyways, visit your Japers Rink for all things Cap-related (Capitals, not salary cap). Ducks 4, Caps 3, Anaheim channels the spirit of Joffrey Lupul and puts four pucks past Jose Theodore. Goals by Selanne, Marchant, Pahlsson, and Festerling.

Go Ducks.

Dustin Penner Sucks, Take 1,783

I've been an independent observer of this whole Dustin Penner fiasco, and like M*A*S*H* or a penis, it just gets better the longer it goes. To recap: The Oilers sign Dustin Penner to a 5-year, $21.25 million dollar deal after his astounding 43-point season playing alongside 2 scrubs named Ryan Getzly and Chris Perry or something like that. Who cares, they've never done anything anyway. There was much gnashing of the teeth from bloviating jackass Brian Burke, who criticized Lowe for ruining both teams; this was followed by a lot of back-and-forth between the outmatched Anaheim blogging contingent and the Edmonton juggernaut. But, in the end, Brian Burke was right: the Dustin Penner offer sheet not only left Edmonton with an overpaid, unmotivated baby, but also screwed the Ducks over when they had an opportunity to win a 2nd cup. To that I say, "Huzzah!"

The problem with the Edmonton offer sheet from their perspective was that they were not in the position to offer it. The Oilers were coming off a poor season, finishing 11th in the Western Conference. They had just traded their "heart and soul" in Ryan Smyth for a number of prospects and draft picks and had seemingly committed to rebuilding. Then they spent over $4 million dollars a year on Dustin Penner, losing 3 draft picks in the following draft. Strange. Now the Oilers have a weird amalgamation of good young players, overpaid free agents, and aging goaltenders that no one likes. They might make the playoffs but they're not likely to be a favorite at any point in the future and the money given to Penner can't be used on anyone else. The Oilers are a strange team.

The Ducks, on the other hand, were precisely the kind of team that was in a position to poach another team with an offer sheet. The problem, of course, was that they didn't have any money.* The Ducks ended up getting screwed by a problem mostly of their own making because for some weird reason they had signed Todd Bertuzzi and they lost Dustin Penner. This ended up killing them last season because what position did they need to fill the most? 2nd-line left wing, the exact position Penner filled last season. You may wonder why Penner is perfect in this spot yet subpar for the Oilers. One, stop asking questions. Two, when Penner was playing with Getzlaf and Perry he didn't have to bang in the corners (because Getzlaf does that) and he didn't have to fight in front of the net and paw at defenders like a little bitch (because Perry does that). What he could do was hover and find the open space for a Getzlaf pass, and he does that pretty well. Bobby Ryan will most likely fill that position in the future, but by that time Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne will be retired and the Ducks' Stanley Cup window will have temporarily closed. Hooray!

*That's why offer sheets aren't more popular, despite all the hand-wringing by writers and GMs: the teams that would benefit from them are good teams that want one more piece, but those teams are generally near the cap; the teams that can afford to spend the money need the draft picks to rebuild their franchise.

Of course, creating a counterfactual where Dustin Penner stayed on the Ducks creates a whole other set of scenarios: they probably don't sign Mathieu Schneider and they probably trade Andy MacDonald anyway. Maybe they end up trading Penner anyway and get less than the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick they got for him. But overall, I think both teams screwed themselves: the Oilers ended up with an overpaid player that doesn't fit their needs and the Ducks were hurt in one of their last years at being competitive for a Stanley Cup. It's pretty awesome if you think about it. You know, for me. The Oilers are one of those teams that could contend for a few years if they got their act together and I hate the Ducks, and in one fell swoop they managed to destroy each other. Now I just need Erik Johnson to get hurt and the Blackhawks to waste all their cap space on a red-headed goof and the Kings should be all set in the Pacific. Oh wait, that happened? Excellent. *strokes white cat

Brian Burke Week Part 1: Sleek defends three "bad" moves

Hey, everybody! Welcome to Burke Week, where I'll take a scattered look back on what I take to be Brian Burke's legacy in Anaheim. I do have a lot to say about the guy, and rather than cram it all into one post I thought I'd break it into semi-coherent parts throughout the week.

Part I: Defending three "bad" Burke moves that I don't think were that bad. For better or worse, opposing fans love to criticize Brian Burke's management style, and at times, the desire to call out Burke for a "bad" move ignores a lot of important context. Burke's first few years, of course, are now left alone because the Ducks won a cup, but since then it seems that critics are all-too-ready to point out where Burke has made his supposed mistakes.

There's really two things to keep in mind when discussing some of these debatable moves, though: (1) Thanks to salary cap mechanics, it's always going to be difficult, if not impossible, to keep a championship team together. I hold little expectation that any cup-winning roster could or should be fully retained -- there's always got to be adaptation and prioritization after a team experiences success. (2) Behind every one of these moves is the decision to allow Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne to semi-retire. I'll certainly talk more about this later, but basically if you disagree on giving players that freedom (and would rather Burke forced retirement on them), then probably you won't agree with the validity of these moves, but it is important to understand Burke's underlying motivation.

Lastly, I don't want to overstate things in this post -- I'm not saying that these moves were ideal, by any means. My main point is that they are more tolerable to me than people suggest -- I'm not angry with Burke for making them, at any rate.

1. Waiving Ilya Bryzgalov

Sleek's initial take: It seems absolutely amazing to me that a goaltender with the lowball salary and highball postseason success couldn't be traded in today's league, but I've had low expectations ever since the seemingly poor returns for Tomas Vokoun or Vesa Toskala last summer. As much as it might pain rival fans to admit it, I think the departure of Bryzgalov has very little to do with Scott and Teemu, and really has more to do with Bryzgalov trying to be a #1 and Hiller being promoted to the big leagues.

On paper this sounds horrible, because Breezy was definitely a proven playoff performer, given away to a divisional rival for free. And generally, I’m not in favor of losing assets for nothing. However, you also have to consider the Ducks were locked into J.S. Giguere for four years (including a no-movement clause), and had signed a promising netminder in Jonas Hiller as well. Not only was Breezy prevented from upward movement in the organization, but he was even in the youngster’s way, plus he was due for a raise the next summer. Burke claims that the move was done for Bryzgalov’s benefit, and it’s tough to disbelieve him on that statement, and for sure the goalie-trade market was thin (that’s the inherent irony in goalie salaries: they are no doubt the most important player on the ice, yet there are more than 60 players who could play in the NHL). So Burke ensured that Breezy gets picked up by a bottom team while publicly keeping his word to his netminder – there’s definitely payoff in being a “player first” GM like that, and while there was no trade return, you have to remember that Hiller cost the Ducks nothing either. It seems a relative wash to me, with some good PR on the side.

2. Trading Andy McDonald to St. Louis for Doug Weight

Sleek's initial take: Of course, it's sort of a mistake to look at this just as a McDonald-for-Weight trade, as context is huge for this deal. In return for trading away Andy Mac, the Ducks get Doug Weight, the right to play Scott Niedermayer, the right to keep Mathieu Schneider, and the possibility to sign Teemu Selanne. Even if DeadWeight turns out to be a bust, there's still a lot of trade return there.

Yes, this was salary-necessitated, and yes, I’d rather have Andy Mac than Doug Weight on my team any day. Still, this needs context more than anything. As my quote above suggests, it wasn’t just a one-for-one trade; Andy McDonald was traded for Doug Weight + the tag space to keep Mathieu Schneider + the room to welcome back Scott Niedermayer + the room to later sign Teemu Selanne. The salary side sucked, I guess, but the Ducks by the end of that season had more than $24 million tied into three defensemen plus a goalie – a more expensive team than they could have afforded for a full season. As for success, yeah, there was no Stanley Cup, but in the 48 games after the McDonald/Weight trade (Scotty's return), the Ducks dropped nearly a full goal-against-per-game, and played on a pace that would have won them the President’s Trophy and the Jennings Trophy. Hard to be overly critical of a trade that transformed a .500 team into a top-tier contender.

3. Signing Mathieu Schneider

Sleek's initial take: 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.

It’s really tough for me to get angry with Burke for this signing, as it seemed a logical reaction to Scott Niedermayer’s effective retirement. It didn’t pan out, obviously, and did put the Ducks in a heck of a salary cap crunch at the end of last summer, but I think the signing made sense in its context and Schneidermayer certainly knew what a potential salary mess he was getting himself into. What clouds this issue somewhat is the poor start that Schneider has had in Atlanta -- certainly his numbers suggest that he is washed up. However, I'd guess that he's being mis-used on the Thrashers; for the past few seasons Schneider has been an extremely effective weapon in easy minutes, playing behind a Nick Lidstrom or a Chris Pronger. In Anaheim, Schneider certainly had a solid year: At even-strength in the regular season, Schneider was on the ice for 50 GF, 23 GA, a better than 2-to-1 ratio. On the power play, he was on the ice for 34 GF, 5 GA. While certainly the team would have been easier to manage last season without Schneider's salary on the books, Burke saw a gaping hole on his blueline and reacted to it. In retrospect, the signing proved excessive, but at the time when Niedermayer's retirement seemed believable enough, I think Burke got a decent replacement option off the UFA market, and that's not something I'll spend too much time criticizing.

So there you have it, three moves that I don't criticize Burke for (at least, not to the extent that others do). Agree or disagree with my assessments, or do you have another example of your own? Feel free to leave it in the comments. Then stay tuned for Burke Week Part II (possibly tomorrow?), where I'll point out some moves where I am more critical on Burke's decision-making.

Go Ducks.

BoC Gameday—Prelude to Burke Week

Los Angeles Kings (7-7-2, t-11th in west) at Anaheim Ducks (9-7-2, 5th in west)
That strange silence you're hearing is a quiet general manager.

Over the next week, I will be writing a series of posts looking back on the legacy of Brian Burke in Anaheim -- moves I liked, moves I didn't like, plus some general observations -- so yeah, look forward to that. For now, though, all I'll say is that I'm fine with the timing of the move, as there's not a lot of GMing that can really be done with the rest this year's roster. The Ducks are so close to the cap ceiling that there's not much to do except (a) promote Bobby Ryan and (b) re-sign some key players before next summer.

We'll get to (a) in a second, but really the re-signing aspect is the key one: once Burke turned down a contract extension, next year's roster became Bob Murray's concern, and better to put that person in charge now than to wait until the offseason. Incidentally, I don't expect to learn very much about Bob Murray's GM tendencies until next summer; for now it's still pretty much Burke's team, and the only clues we'll have about Murray in the coming months will likely be in the form of which UFAs get re-signed and which do not.

Ah, this PuckToon I drew last June seems appropriate.
(It's not as if I've never stolen from work before.)
I missed Friday's game against the Predators, so I was caught off-guard by the announcement that Frenchie Beauchemin will be out six months with a torn ACL. The ramifications of this seem to be twofold: (a) Bobby Ryan and Ryan Festerling got promoted from the AHL under long-term-injury cap relief, and (b) Scott Niedermayer will be getting a new minute-eating defense partner. I hesitate to say who will be getting the promotion, but I think I'd give Steve Montador a shot at some top-four duty -- he's a guy who's been impressing me with his overall game and could play anchor to Niedermayer's roamer game.

As for Bobby Ryan, now's the opportunity for the kid to step up to the big leagues -- on paper, he potentially gives the Ducks a set of six legitimate top-six forwards (sorry Marchant, one of the requirements is "hands") for the first time this season. Between Kunitz-Getzlaf-Perry and Ryan-Morrison-Selanne, I'll be interested to see how the Ducks' offense operates. It may just provide the positivity to offset the downside of losing Beauchemin.

Prediction: Tonight Sleek's lucky green shirt is going up to the Honda Center rafters (translation: I'll be sitting in the nosebleeds), as some hockey-playing friends of mine have taken advantage of a Ducks promotion -- sell enough upper deck seats and they get to play a short beer league-style game on Honda Center ice after the Ducks and Kings end. So if you see a green shirt during the game in Section 430, Row J, feel free to say hi, or if you're bored after the game and want to see some amateurs play, I'll be in the lower bowl for that. Ducks 4, Kings 2. Goals by Ryan (x2), Pahlsson, and Getzlaf.

Go Ducks.

Bye Bye Burkie

Well, so much for that Bucket List.

I certainly didn't see this coming this fast, and I don't have much time for reaction today, but here's the link.

I'll have a proper good-bye for the guy at some point, but for now, welcome to the new Ducks' GM, Bob Murray. Sleek = Stunned.

Go Ducks.

[Update, 11:40 am. Per the Star's Damien Cox (link via KK), Burke reportedly will stay on as a consultant with the Ducks until the end of this season. More to come after the press conference.]

[Update, 1:10 pm. James Mirtle has some quotes from the press conference, but generally it wasn't very enlightening at all. I expect Burke's next press conference, whenever it comes, to reveal a lot more of what his future holds.]

[Update, 2:40 pm. Nobody can keep up with Puck Daddy. A nice piece looking at the Anaheim tenure of Burke, plus some looking ahead to what he might face in Toronto.

[Update, 2:50 pm. Probably my last update today, but the OC Register has many more Burke quotes, and expects Burke to remain with the team for one or two more weeks before being given permission to talk to other clubs about future employment.]

[Update, 10:50 pm. Oh yeah, and here's what I wrote about the rumo"u"r of Burke leaving five months ago.]

Ducks Gameday—Sleek starts a campaign

Florida Panthers (4-8-1, 15th in east) at Anaheim Ducks (9-6-1, 3rd in west)
The truth about cats and birds.

I don't have anything to say about tonight's matchup against the Cats, but I do want to recommend The Litter Box, a Panthers-themed hockey blog that I enjoy thoroughly. Whale4Ever mixes his hockey updates with plenty of awesome images and plenty of snark, and I'm much more pro-Cat thanks to his efforts. Rock on, dude.

Instead, I wanted to ride the coattails of the campaign fever that's been taking over BoC, between Mike Chen's push for Seto/Gooch to the All-Star Game and Rudy Kelly's Doughty for the Calder Trophy movement that's just picking up steam. Well, just because I'm apolitical and anti-voting doesn't mean that I don't care about important issues, and there's certainly one movement I'd like to throw my negligible weight behind. As a bonus, it's not even anything I have to convince you readers to do—the primary audience for this message is for just one person only: Brian Burke.

C'mon, Burkie, you know that Sammy would re-sign you.
As you know, Brian Burke is probably headed elsewhere next year, and I've already stated that he's got my blessing—at least he's left the team in a flexible enough salary position next year that a replacement GM won't be cap-cramped to start the new job. Here's who the Ducks currently have under salary for next year, with everyone else a free agent:

Forwards: Getzlaf, Perry, Kunitz, Selanne, Carter, Ryan + some Bertuzzi money
Defensemen: Pronger
Goalies: Giguere, Hiller

Combined, it comes to some $32.5 M, which is a bit pricy, but at least some expensive positions are pre-filled (goaltending, scoring forwards, top d-man). Well, over the next few weeks I plan on coming up with Burke's Bucket List: a list of items I'd like to see Burke do before hitting "greener pastures" next summer.

First and foremost is re-signing Sammy Pahlsson, who of course I could write volumes about (as we'll see once this campaign really gets rolling), but for now, let's just focus on the penalty killing. Since Burke took over the team, the Ducks have taken strange pride in their ability to take penalties, and Pahlsson has quietly shouldered the brunt of that. Since the lockout (regular season only), Sammy has played nearly 1,103 shorthanded minutes, which is the seventh highest total in the league behind Bouwmeester, Phillips, Lidstrom, Havelid, Chara, and Keith -- all defensemen. His total is 222 more minutes than the next highest forward, Ottawa's Chris Kelly (note: this was a hasty study just looking at just the top 90 minute-getters for each season, but I think it's correct).

So Burke, you owe it to Ducks fans, Ducks players, and especially to Sammy himself -- four more years, dude. I'm not even going to make a recommendation on dollars; whatever it takes is fine by me -- even if it's an overpayment, we still probably owe Sammy for the harsh service he's endured for the past four years.

So anyway, that's the start of my campaign; more to come in future posts. Feel free to lend your support in the comments.

* * *

More Tragedy in the Oilogosphere: You'll of course recall last month's incident between DMFB and the Oilers pressbox that led to Dave's departure from hockey blogging. Well, now the damage is doubled. Mike W, another CiO contributor and inspiration for my hockey blogging has likewise decided to give up his posting, and again, I am crushed by the news.

Mikey, please keep visiting, and trust me, I'll post anything you draw. And don't give up the Chamber of Comics -- it's sheer awesomeness, at least the parts that Internet Explorer will let me see.

I would be remiss if I didn't link to this -- pretty much the best thing any hockey blogger has ever done, ever.

* * *

And lastly, part two of my interview with Tom L. and Tapeleg from The Rink Podcast has now been posted, and this time it's Sleek from start to finish. Lots covered there, from some philosophy of what this blog is all about to remeniscing on the 2003 Cup run, and some follow-up thoughts about Paul Kariya. Enjoy!

Prediction: Ducks 3, Cats 1. Goals by Kunitz, Pahlsson (shorthanded, I'm sure), and Carter.

Go Ducks.

Ducks Gameday—Still waiting for scorers to score

Anaheim Ducks (1-5-0, 15th in west) at Toronto Maple Leafs (1-2-2, t-11th in east)
When's the last time you looked longingly at Toronto's record?
(I wasn't asking you, Kings fans.)

Yeah, sometimes I'm lazy enough for a good google image search, so sue me (note to Disney: please don't sue me).

Not too much from me today, as I didn't even get to watch the Carolina outing, but I did want to revisit a post I wrote way back in June that explored the notion of Brian Burke taking a Maple Leafs GM job next summer. I really made two points: (1) Brian Burke has gotten lucky at times, in particular with his acquisitions of Niedermayer, Pronger, and Selanne, and (2) I was fine with Burke leaving, as there is a fairly open roster next year for a replacement GM to work with.

Of course, that latter point isn't looking so strong these days, as the three biggest contracts Burke has locked the Ducks into are:

R. Getzlaf, 6 gp, 0-1-1, -5 — 5 years, $26.625 million
C. Perry, 6 gp, 0-1-1, -4, — 5 years, $26.625 million
C. Kunitz, 6 gp, 0-0-0, -5 — 4 years, $14.9 million

So, using some ridiculous pro-rating math, thus far it's looking like the Ducks will pay some $68.15 million for this trio of forwards to score a combined 0 goals and 137 assists in 1,148 games played. That's just under $500,000 per assist, and I don't even want to mention the combined -888.

Of course, that's all pretty silly math, but the reality remains: the forwards on the Ducks with one or less points on the season are Getzlaf, Perry, Kunitz, Selanne, Morrison, and Parros. And the only thing that separates Parros from this group is (a) he's been on the ice for more goals-for (3) than the other five, (b) he has yet to be on the ice for a goal-against, and (c) he's had less than half the ice time of any of them.

I'll mention again the bizarre scoring structure: the top two lines have scored 1 goal, the bottom two lines have scored 8, and the defense has scored 4. When exactly is Carlyle going to shuffle things up?

Prediction: Technically, somebody's getting a second "W" tonight. Ducks 4, Leafs 1. Goals by Kunitz, Scotty, Pahlsson, and Parros. Ron Wilson catches Teemu with another illegal stickblade. Make sure to check out Pension Plan Puppets, Battle of Ontario, and Down Goes Brown for your Toronto perspectives.

[9 am edit -- Our good buddy Michael Dell, who hosts the LCS Radio Show where both Chen and I recently made guest appearances, was so inspired by our 80s TV devotion that he made a list of the NHL's A-Team. A pretty good list, but I still prefer my casting.]

Positivity! Go Ducks.

Ducks Gameday—Positivity! (Is this the game?)

Edmonton Oilers (1-0-0) at Anaheim Ducks (3 opportunities for improvement!)
There's no choice except better results, right?

What I was originally going to write about.
Look, I know the Ducks have been horrible lately, but I've caught onto a pattern.

• For game one, I wrote about how scared I was about Jonathan Goddamn Cheechoo, and he killed us.



• For game two, I wrote nothing, and that didn't help.



• For game three, I wrote about a pattern of 1-goal deficits turning into 3-goal deficits, and the Ducks watched their deficit grow like clockwork.

My problem? I'm way too psychic. And I've been focusing entirely too much on the negative.

Tonight? In the spirit of "the first 3 games are irrelevant in the scheme of an 82-game schedule", I'm instead imagining some good results. Is this the game where the Ducks get goals from their actual goal-scorers*? Is this the game where the Ducks enter the penalty box at a slightly lesser rate**? Is this the game where the Ducks even vaguely resemble a salary-cap maximum team***? Is this the game where Ducks fans get to see what a power play goal-for looks like****? It totally could be!

* Thus far in the Ducks' season, the top two scoring lines have combined for one goal, the bottom two checking lines have combined for five, and the defense has contributed none.

** The Ducks have been shorthanded an average of 11:14 per game through the first three, and have allowed 6 PPGs to offset their 6 total GF.

*** The Ducks are t-27th in the league in terms of goals-for-per-game and 29th in the league in goals-against-per-game.

**** The Ducks are the only NHL team without a power play goal this season.

Feel free to leave your own semi-positive "Is this the game" hope in the comments. Bonus points for extra cynicism!

-------------------------------------------
Also, this is your 4-times-a-year reminder to read your Oilogosphere -- since internet blogging was invented, the Oilers have had the market cornered -- Battle of Alberta, Covered in Oil, mc79hockey, LoweTide, Black Dog Hates Skunks, Irreverent Oil Fans, Oiloblobosphere, Hot Oil, Copper and Blue -- and quite honestly, I am still leaving out some very good ones. Even if you read nothing but Oilers blogs, you'd get a full spectrum of what hockey fandom is all about. Don't tell that to Burke 'n' Lowe, though; I'd hate for my admiration to spill over to that tasty feud.

Prediction: I'm getting my expectations low enough now that this could end up the first game of the year that doesn't end with a proverbial gun in my mouth -- now that's positivity! Ducks 4, Oilers 2. Goals by four guys yet to put a puck in the net: Perry, Getzlaf, Pahlsson, and Kunitz.

Go Ducks? (!) .

Barnyard Miracles! Bobby Ryan turns from a Duck to a Pig

Poor Bobby Ryan. The kid picked one slot behind Sidney Crosby hasn't had much opportunity to shine on an NHL stage. He played in his first 25 NHL games last year, including 2 in the Dallas series, and after a strong camp this season, was demoted yesterday to the AHL Chops mainly for salary cap reasons.

This is a situation that it's a bit tough to write about, because there's several unknowns at work here: (a) Bobby Ryan's bonus clauses -- thanks to NHL secrecy, I have no idea what Ryan would need to do in order to earn his $1.1 M in bonuses, though I'd guess they pertain to NHL-level achievements. If Ryan started on the Ducks, though, the $1.1 M would count against the cap as potential achievements, and I can't say at what point these bonuses become unachievable. (b) Bobby Ryan's potential -- I've liked what I've seen out of the kid in limited exposure thus far, but Ryan's played most of his hockey completely off my radar. I assume the kid is good, because of draft position and all, but really it's all question marks until it happens on NHL ice. (c) the Anaheim Ducks' need -- This is a biggie -- the Ducks will have Getzlaf-Perry and Morrison-Selanne on their top two lines, and Chris Kunitz will definitely get one of the open wing spots. There's plenty of bodies for the bottom lines also -- Pahlsson-Moen-Niedermayer + Sutherby-Marchant-Carter + Parros-Ebbett-May. Assuming somebody can handle a cushy promotion, I'm not that worried about forward depth this year. There's no Doug Weights or Todd Bertuzzis that need to be hidden in the top lines, at least.

On July 1st, when Corey Perry signed his 5-year contract, I wrote a post looking at how various wingers did next to Getzlaf-and-Perry. It wasn't a fabulous study, but it did show a trend how a "banger" like Brian Sutherby, Brad May, or Jason King got better results than a "scorer" like Kunitz or Bertuzzi. Getzlaf and Perry have always thrived with a Fedoruk-type on their wing, and perhaps that will be the forward solution this year; last night Travis Moen got an audition on the top line (and congrats to Teemu on the hat trick -- fucking awesome). Anyways, forwards can be a discussion for another day, but I don't get the sense that the Ducks need Ryan desperately to become any NHL-level hero just yet.

And that's probably why I shrug at the news that Ryan has to wait his turn to make an NHL impact. I'm always a guy who's in favor of over-sheltering young talent, for maturity reasons and for salary-impact reasons. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry can be a quick example here. When they were brought up to the NHL, it was in a no-pressure situation: 4th line minutes with Fedoruk watching their back, and not a ton of scoring was needed out of them. Even when they got sent down to the AHL for a month or so that first year, that lowered the pressure even further -- they weren't in any Calder Trophy race, for reasons outside their control. Year Two was stepped up a notch -- they were in cushy 2nd-line spots but more scoring was expected (and delivered) that year. And now they're affordable NHL stars.

If Bobby Ryan is really a future cornerstone of this franchise, what's not important to me is the NHL impact he makes in the next two years; he probably needs to do enough to demonstrate he's on the right path, but it's important to remember -- the more NHL achievements he gets, the more expensive his next contract becomes. I don't want him winning any Calder Trophy (which is safe anyways, since he plays on the west coast), and I'd rather not see any 90-point years just yet. I know it's twisted in a way, but holding back Ryan is probably good for the kid and good for the franchise. And I am kind of encouraged by this Bobby Ryan quote about the downside of contract bonuses:

"You just want to warn guys that it could be something that comes back to bite you. I'd waive 'em in a heartbeat if I could – take it down to the league minimum or whatever it would be. When it's right there in front of your face and it's a couple hundred thousand dollars that's hurting you, it's tough."

If this kid can somehow get that team-friendly-contract notion in his head now, I'm feeling pretty optimistic. Now don't get me wrong -- I'm hoping Ryan kicks ass in the AHL and forces Burke to put him in the big leagues a la Be a Pro; I expect he'll be easier to promote later in the season when bonuses become unattainable anyway. If he plays well enough, Bobby Ryan can be this year's trade deadline day pickup, and hopefully enjoy a relatively pressure-free transition into this league, just like Getzlaf and Perry did before him.

Color me an optimist; Go Ducks.

Craig Custance has my e-mail address?

Well, I'm too lazy to write my own post today, but thankfully the Sporting News has stepped in. This e-mail was sent to a few independent bloggers, myself included:

Just thought I'd share with you guys as we continue to try and build Sporting News Today. Thanks as usual!

- Craig

I'll ignore the "as usual" part (as I'm pretty sure this is the first correspondence), but it's sort of cool that the Sporting News pegged BoC as a distribution outlet for its pretty keen Brian Burke Q&A feature. Is it innovation? Desperation? Hard to say, but I'd recommend all readers to check out Puck Daddy's piece yesterday on the declining state of newspaper coverage.

Anyways, I thought I'd go ahead and post the Sporting News piece, in the hopes that someday I could ask a question or two of Mr. Burke. Enjoy!

Look Inside >> October 1, 2008

Ugh. The embed code they sent seems to suck. Try clicking here instead.

And while I'm in the spirit of link-happiness, you can click here to see Chris Pronger's blog reaction to the O'Donnell trade.

Go Ducks.

Crisis Averted! Thoughts on the Schneidermayer Trade

At long last, Mathieu Schneider has been traded. A mere fifteen months since he signed on with the Ducks, he was shipped off to Atlanta yesterday afternoon in exchange for Ken Klee and a few bodies.

To be fair, it's been an eventful fifteen months for the Ducks, thanks to a steady pattern of un-retirement from Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne. Anyways, here's some things I feel should be pointed out about the trade.

1. It's important to understand: Mathieu Schneider was not a failure for the Ducks, and I'm not convinced he's overpaid. I think he'll have a good year in Atlanta. With the recent waiving of Schneider and the fact that 29 teams refused to pick him up for free, I think there's been a lot of misconception that "Schneider has lost it" or that "he's grossly overpaid". Those statements could certainly be applied earlier in the summer to Todd Bertuzzi, but I think in Schneider's case they're off-base.

When Scott returned to the Ducks lineup in December, Coach Carlyle resumed his pattern of splitting all the important even-strength minutes to his two main pairings: Niedermayer-Beauchemin and Pronger-O'Donnell. Schneider was left to play easy Dipenta-minutes with Kent Huskins, plus was given some top power play time. Pretty ripe minutes for an offensive talent like Schneider, and there's not much bad to say about his overall results. At even-strength in the regular season, Schneider was on the ice for 50 GF, 23 GA, a better than 2-to-1 ratio. On the power play, he was on the ice for 34 GF, 5 GA. Schneider outscored his opposition like crazy, even if it was done in fairly easy ice time. If he can get those sort of sweet minutes on Atlanta, I don't really see why he can't get similarly good results this year.

Schneider's waiving and trading was a function of salary cap math, not his play on the ice. With $13M at Niedermayer and Pronger, $7.3M at Giguere and Hiller, $10+M at Getzlaf and Perry, the Ducks couldn't afford the luxury of having Schneider play easy bottom-pairing minutes (not when a half-million dollar guy could do it a la Dipenta). Sure, Schneider did have a miserable 6-game playoffs, but that's true of a lot of Ducks, and I'd consider his regular season more indicative of his ability.

One other area Schneider could have improved last year was in the actual function of replacing Niedermayer -- Schneider ended up missing nearly half the games that Niedermayer sat out because of an ankle injury. Still, if you want to see some measure of Schneider's impact, the 15 pre-Niedermayer games he missed the Ducks had a 9.9% power play effectiveness, and the 19 pre-Niedermayer games that Schneider played in the power play jumped to 21.6%.

Is Schneider overpaid? I guess that depends on how he's used and who he's compared against. If I had a choice of landing 1 year of Schneider at $5.6M, 8 years of Brian Campbell at $7.1M, or 6 years of Wade Redden at $6.5 M, I'd probably take the first option. He may not be as capable or as sturdy, but it's a one-year gamble for lesser money, and he comes with a better shot (at least he scored more goals than the other two). Basically, if the Ducks had the money, I'd be all over keeping Schneider next year.

2. That said, I understand some of the reasons GMs passed on Schneider on waivers a week ago.

By not allowing Brian Burke an easy out to his over-the-salary-cap conundrum, GMs could not only stick it to Burke but force him to sweeten the Schneider deal with additional assets. GMs were playing coy; the ones at the front of the waiver list (generally the teams with cap room) imagined that they could wait for Schneider's re-entry waivers and nab the defender for half his salary. There was also talk of forcing Burke to throw in Bobby Ryan or a valued draft pick to make the deal even sweeter.

Basically, Burke was in a shitty position and everyone knew it. He had to unload Schneider before the North American season started, and so long as rival GMs could avoid accommodating that, the price for Schneider would be forcibly lowered. Somebody was going to get the privelege of fleecing Brian Burke in a trade, and by ignoring Schneider on waivers, GMs could improve the chances that they would be the ones to get that opportunity.

The main problem that rival GMs had, though, was that they had to snub Burke's trade requests collectively in order to drive Schneider's price down, but in the end only one of the clubs was actually going to reap the benefit of this collective action. It became a bit of a game theory exercise, where clubs had to weigh the benefits of forcing Burke's hand with the likelihood that they could individually collect on that pressure. For his part, Burke played his hand brilliantly, never crying poor or crying foul, but using that "don't let me give Schneider to somebody else" angle to get decent value back for the cap-necessitated move.

3. Trade assessment: thumbs way up, but there's probably a Part 2 coming. I have to admit, the Schneider outcome scared me a good deal these past few weeks, as the number of trade suitors dwindled down to a handful while the need to move Schneider's salary increased. It was tough to guess what Burke might need to do in order to move the salary, and talks of dropping Bobby Ryan or future assets to solve a short-term problem wasn't a comforting notion at all.

The fact that Burke managed to move Schneider without mortgaging the future means that by my eye, this trade is a whopping success. The Ducks did pick up some $1.8M in salary with Ken Klee and Brad Larsen, but neither is signed beyond this year so it's not even a long-term repercussion.

While this move does put the Ducks under the salary cap ceiling, there is still likely another salary-shedding move yet to come in order to fit in the Finnish Flash. Teemu Selanne remains unsigned, and he's even talking about the possibility of wanting a two-year deal from the Ducks. While normally I'd advise against such a contract for a player over 35, especially in the wake of the issues of Schneider's similar situation, in this case I'm probably for gambling on Teemu. Really the main motivator for me is cheapness -- by salary cap law Selanne will have to sign a bargain contract in order to fit on this year's roster, maybe less than a million, and if he's willing to extend that minimal salary another year, why that's hardly a gamble at all. If the Ducks move enough salary, however, that Teemu gets signed for something like $2M, at that point I'm more in favor of doing 1-year deals for Teemu.

At any rate, I don't really know what this next move will be. There seems enough movable bodies among the forwards and defensemen now that there's lots of possibilities. Still, it's important to note that the Schneider trade has brought the Ducks out of crisis mode, and for that I'm excited. It's rare that a salary dump like this one can be so well-received in both participating cities, but in this case I think it's warranted. The Thrashers have landed themselves a legitimate scoring threat on the blueline, and the Ducks have gained cap compliance without selling out the future. Great work, Brian Burke. If you ever decide not to move to Toronto, I'll support extending your tenure.

Go Ducks.

Ducks put Schneidermayer on Waivers

Well, so much for the BoC Collaboration. Instead of waiting any longer for a trade partner, it appears that Mathieu Schneider is headed the way of the Bryzgalov:

The Anaheim Ducks, needing to trim payroll, have placed defenseman Mathieu Schneider on waivers with the expectation that a team will claim him and $5.75 million salary for this season.

Once they move Schneider off the books, the Ducks are expected to re-sign Teemu Selanne.

I don't really have any problem with this move, as I have been expecting very little in return for the productive Schneider. Basically, the ability to get under the salary cap and to bring back the Finnish Flash is plenty of return for me.

I'm in quite the hustle this morning, so this is a hasty post (note the previously-posted image), but I'll put together something more once he's claimed (if he's claimed, I guess). Still, feel free to react to the move in the comments.

Go Ducks.

[EDIT, 1 PM: As usual, the OC Register's Dan Wood provides the best perspective on the situation and its possible outcomes.]

[EDIT, 3:30 PM: Looks like the Kings are going to pass. Probably because it costs money.]

[EDIT, 4:30 PM: Moving away from MSM blogs (side gripe: I guess I should comment anonymously at these sites; both the OC Register and Inside the Kings have removed my comments presumably because I write for BoC. Hooray for freedom!), The Falconer makes a numbers-driven case for why the Thrashers should pick up Schneider.]

[EDIT, 9:30 AM: Back to Dan Wood. 29 teams passed and Schneider cleared waivers. On to Plan B!]

Happy Sleek Day!

That's right, kiddos, it's Uncle Sleek's birthday today, turning a ripened old 31 years old and getting quite near that stage of life where I can start retiring once a year. If you want to know why I come off so satisfied and smug on this blog, that you can blame squarely on birthdate numerology, which has blessed me with an inordinate amount of luck.

7-11-77. It rhymes, it multiplies, and it stinks of good fortune! My whole life I've kept an eye out for good luck, you know, just to see if the birthdate prophesy was being fulfilled. I've certainly been fortunate on a lot of levels, as I'm sure a lot of us have. This blog, for one, is mostly a creature of luck, and a ton of thanks to the fellow bloggers and readers who keep it all chugging.

Another lucky thing: I've got a new nephew coming soon whose due date rivals my own, 8-8-08. They haven't told me the kid's name yet, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to call him "Ocho".

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I do want to talk about Brian Burke's unique version of media silence yesterday, but today's not a fair day to do it. I'm off with the folks and siblings to Napa Valley, and won't be back until Tuesday. So a full post/dialogue will have to wait until next week, but here's a quick bulleted version.

• I think only one of Kevin Lowe's comments deserved a public response: SoCal being called a "pathetic hockey market". Everything Burke did beyond addressing that singular point was unnecessary and foolish. Foolish isn't all bad, though; I certainly had a good chuckle at Burke's goodie-two-shoes lawyer impression.



• I think we should acknowledge SoCal for what it is: a maze of Laker fans. It's still a market that does need to be won over, but that is an important feature, not a flaw. A developing fanbase that does demand results amidst competition is not a bad thing, even for a Canada-strong league. It can serve as a more measurable barometer of hockey's entertainment value than the always-full houses in Edmonton.



• One other takeaway: I think Brian Burke is stuck in Anaheim the rest of the year. Tom Benjamin had me convinced that Burkie was going to leave midseason and Dave Nonis would take over, but how can Burke go to Toronto now? Now that he's turned "tampering" into a league buzzword, he's painted himself into a corner.

Anyway, that's a rough draft of some thoughts; feel free to discuss while I'm gone. I'll express my thoughts a bit better when I get back to SoCal.

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For now, it's time to blow out some candles and start some drinkin' (for me, Napa-style!):



Hockey news on the front page? I wish!
Go Ducks.

Anaheim Ducks News Bits

According to the O.C. Register, The Ducks are going to place Bobby Ryan at a second line wing position this season, and let him fumble through becoming an NHL regular (as they should have done last season). The move is smart and will allow Ryan to become the great Ducks player he was drafted to be.

Signing Teemu Selanne is still up in the air... PLEASE TEEMU COME BACK!!!!
In the article Burkie also discussed getting rid of someone to free up space to go after Teemu and get under the cap.

"...Burke admitted the Ducks still need to rid themselves of a defenseman(nice way of saying
Mathieu Schneider) and said that it was possible that they’d get a winger in return", as quoted from the O.C. Register article above.

“It would have to come from outside,” Burke said. “We’re not going to force a young guy into that position.”

Burke is making moves (it appears) that look like Teemu's gone, so this sort of confuses me. Only time will tell, there's still a lot of offseason to be had.

Worst. Episode. Ever.

Updated.

Ducks to Sign Brendan Morrison and other musings of a Ducks fan

According to the O.C. Register, the Anaheim Ducks will announce tomorrow the signing of Brendan Morrison. He supposedly wants to reunite with Brian Burke (awwww). He is also expected to center the second line. He better be coming here cheap, because I don't see this being a good financial decision. Plus hopefully after knee surgery he doesn't suck.

Maybe if we wait a little longer we could ink Mats Sundin too, he seems to not know what the hell he wants to do. Oh well, I have officially given up on free agency for the Ducks. We're too close to the cap to have any fun anyway.

Please Teemu, Come Back!!!!!!!

In other Ducks news: Bettman (no it's not a mis-print, I mean the homo, not the super hero Batman) decided to play referee to the Brian Burke vs. Kevin Lowe fight. Citing that the men should "play nice" to which reportedly Lowe tossed a hissy fit saying California has no hockey market and was sent to the corner. Burke is rumored to have teased Lowe asking "Who's the moron now?"

I doubt its over, but damn its fun having my GM is better than your GM fights.

(I mean no offense with the gay reference above. If anyone would like me to remove it, I will.)

Oh yea, Hey Earl, I stole your Burkie and Lowe image for my article about it on Bleacher Report, its hilarious. Hope its ok, if its not, I'll change it.

Burke vs. Lowe, now in desktop wallpaper format!

They fight, they fight,
They fight, they fight, they fight,
Fight fight fight,
Fight fight fight,
Burkie and Kevin Lowe.
Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy has done a nice job of breaking down the latest Lowe tirade. I've got some thoughts, too, but those will have to wait (I've written and scrapped two posts about it already). For now, all you get is a fabulous cartoon from a true "pathetic hockey market" patron. Enjoy!