The Anaheim Ducks lead the Pacific Division and look like contenders. They have a ton of cap space to work with and will be making large upgrades, rental or not. They don’t necessarily need to move players, but definitely can to give teams a roster player back or just another team a player ahead of the trade deadline.
In terms of who the Ducks could move off of, Radko Gudas has found himself on a trade board. His role has significantly shrunk from last season as he’s playing 16 minutes per game, the lowest among the six regulars, and fourth most time on ice per game on the penalty kill. Gudas is a leader and a hard hitter, but he has missed 11 games this season and has arguably the least impact of the d-men.
Nick Kypreos said, “The timing of Radko Gudas on a trade board may seem surprising. The Ducks do like Gudas and what he brings on the ice, but there is concern about his age.”
Gudas is 35 years old and in the last year of a deal at $4 million AAV. At a reduced cap hit, if the Ducks were to retain, plenty of teams would show interest in the veteran for a third pairing role, maybe to even have an increased role than the one he has in Anaheim.
Pavel Mintyukov is also on the trade board. Ducks can go big game hunting and really upgrade from both of them. This would reduce the roles of Olen Zellweger, Jacob Trouba, and Drew Helleson as well, but if the Ducks are serious, some bodies have to be moved out and bigger fish brought in to really upgrade the team to make it a Stanley Cup contender.
Gudas is in his 14th season in the NHL and third with the Ducks. This season, he is playing over 3:30 less per game than he did in his two previous seasons with the Ducks. The youth is taking over, he’s slowing down, and he is the most obvious choice to go if another regular defenseman is going to be brought into the mix this season and beyond.
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