Anaheim Ducks Have Several Pieces in Play, Including John Gibson
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined Steve Kouleas and Craig Button on the Tuesday edition on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Power Play segment and was asked if we finally see John Gibson on the move from the Anaheim Ducks.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Steve Kouleas: “Something to keep an eye on is the return of John Gibson. Now you and I might have a checklist of things we’ve talked about since we’ve known each other. I would suggest John Gibson’s name would be, 123, we’ve probably talked about him a lot, and he hasn’t gone anywhere with the team getting better and younger with Gibson’s return and how he played.
Could there be something here, not today, tomorrow? How does that play out, where someone might want a John Gibson, when the going gets tough?”
Dave Pagnotta: “There was over the last few years, up until, I think last season, there was a little bit of resistance with respect to his willingness to change locations, to go to a different team. Now he’s got a partial no-trade. Does have some say, but when you’re dealing with a player like him, who’s been there for so long, you want to give him a little bit of benefit.
Up until last season, it was kind of when he accepted the fact that this team just isn’t going to get to a competitive nature while he’s still under contract. He wants an opportunity, certainly, to chase the championship, just like Cam Fowler. And they’re going to explore that. I think they’re going to continue to explore that, and I think there might be a couple opportunities if they’re willing.
And Anaheim has a lot of cap space, they got a lot of room and dollars to work with, and obviously, that’s going to be factored into any trade they make that involves any type of either retention or taking on contracts. They’ve got an opportunity to move him out.
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And they’re going to be teams already; people are already circling Colorado on that list to say, hey, if they got a guy like John Gibson, maybe things kind of shift a little bit quicker for them in terms of going back up the standings and obviously, we know the Nichushkin is coming back soon and all that, but I think there’s more of a willingness from his side, and I think Anaheim says well and Pat Verbeek says well, to explore that possibility this season he’s coming back.
I’m not expecting a move to happen anytime soon, but this can certainly be something down the road as we get closer to March and closer to the trade deadline that gets looked at in Anaheim; they have other pieces.
I mentioned Fowler, and they have he’s got another year on his contract at 6.5 they also have three unrestricted pending, excuse me, unrestricted free agents next summer up front.
(Frank) Vatrano, (Brock) McGinn and (Robby) Fabbri, not the hottest starts for those guys. But those are also going to be three other guys to look at in Anaheim as the season progresses in terms of potential movement. I think all five of the guys mentioned, with Gibson kind of leading the way, could see a lot of movement out of Orange County over these next few months.
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