On the Anaheim Ducks …
Bob McKenzie: (noon today) It is believed that the Ducks have a pre-arranged deal with Vegas so it isn’t necessary to ask defenseman Kevin Bieksa to waive his no-movement clause
Eric Stephens of the OC Register: (last night) Defenseman Kevin Bieksa plays a big part in who the Ducks can protect for the expansion draft and who they will lose. The Ducks, nor his agent would say if Bieksa was asked, and if agreed to, waive his no-movement clause for the draft. The Ducks want to protect seven forwards, three defense and a goalie.
He’ll be 36 years old this week making $4 million next year and would unlikely be selected. If he waived it, it would allow them to keep one of Josh Manson or Sami Vatanen, Hampus Lindholm and Cam Fowler. It would also keep Jakob Silfverberg from being exposed.
If he doesn’t waive his NMC, they could buy him out, counting $1.33 against the cap for the next two years.
Ducks GM Bob Murray has been talking with Vegas GM George McPhee, so they could work out a deal where Vegas won’t/will select a certain player. The Ducks don’t want to lose Manson.
The Ducks could use Sami Vatanen to add a scoring forward or a first round draft pick.
On the next few weeks …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Bob McKenzie was on TSN 690 talking about how it’s going to be a busy couple weeks with daily news likely. The buyout window is almost open, the expansion draft is close, but it could also be holding some things up.
“In some ways, the expansion draft is going to lock things up for a bit. There’s deals done, obviously. I don’t think there’s any question on that, that some teams have already made arrangements with Las Vegas. But some of those may not get announced until either later in the week or next week during the expansion draft process.
“So in the meantime, there are probably some moves that teams are perhaps interested in making or are ready to make, but they need the expansion draft to happen to make those things transpire.”