Ducks look to regroup with a younger cast
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ANAHEIM, Calif. — While the Anaheim Ducks packed up for the summer, Teemu Selanne already was off enjoying his first few days of retirement.
The Ducks will have to get used to life without the Finnish Flash, and he’s probably not the only veteran departing. General manager Bob Murray vowed Monday to improve the two-time Pacific Division champions, who couldn’t extend the best regular season in franchise history into the Western Conference final.
“We’re evaluating everything,” Murray said at Honda Center. “We’re going to take this one piece at a time, because we’re not as close as everybody thought we were.”
The Ducks finished atop the Western Conference with 116 points before beating Dallas Stars in the first round. Those good feelings evaporated against the Kings, when Anaheim blew a 3-2 series lead, getting routed at home, 6-2, in Game 7.
“It was a great season, but any time you lose in the playoffs, it’s going to be heartbreaking,” said captain Ryan Getzlaf, a Hart Trophy finalist and the NHL’s second-leading scorer with 87 points. “And to lose in a Game 7 is even worse.”
While the Ducks have a wealth of young talent to add to a core built around Getzlaf, Corey Perry and defenceman Cam Fowler, several players are at a career crossroads in Anaheim.
Goalie Jonas Hiller expects he’ll have to leave as a free agent. Centre Saku Koivu hasn’t decided whether to return for another season. The Ducks don’t know whether defenceman Sheldon Souray, who missed the whole year, can return from his careerthreatening wrist injury.
Despite the second-round ouster, Ducks owner Henry Samueli clearly is pleased with his team’s direction. Anaheim announced a fouryear contract extension through 2020 for Murray, the architect of the current roster and a farm system brimming with top prospects.
But for those prospects to play, veterans must leave.
Koivu hasn’t decided whether to join Selanne in retirement.
“It’s too early right now,” said Koivu, 39 who has scored 832 points in 18 NHL seasons with Montreal and Anaheim. “Everything starts from myself and feeling whether I have the desire to push another year.”