For some time now, most NHL teams have been trying to free up space in order to add new players. Unlike them, the Anaheim Ducks have no need to do this.
The Ducks' weakness right now is on defense. Cam Fowler is their only true defenseman in the top four on the roster, while Jamie Drysdale is still progressing. Anaheim probably won't be in playoff contention next season, but they still need reliable options on the blue line. Especially after trading Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm at the deadline. They also only have four defensemen under contract for next season and need to work out a deal with compensated free agent Urho Vaakanainen.
One has to wonder why the club's new GM, Pat Verbeek, hasn't taken a chance on Jeff Petry. Perhaps he is waiting for John Klinberg's decision before continuing his shopping spree? We'll see soon enough.
With all the space they have, the Ducks could be active on the trade market very soon to make things easier for the teams that are stuck. They could acquire contracts while receiving small gifts that would greatly help this rebuilding team.
Besides the Ducks, only the Arizona Coyotes are currently under the salary cap. However, the desert team has 23 contracts on its roster, compared to the California team's 16. All other teams are above the minimum threshold, however there are six organizations that are above the cap (Lightning, Capitals, Panthers, Canucks, Golden Knights and Flyers).
If you analyze everything carefully, the Ducks would be the ideal dance partners for Kent Hughes in his quest to free up salary. Anaheim, which has been drafting extremely well for the past few years, has a lot of young talent in its organization that could certainly appeal to the new CH staff. That's without counting a certain Maxime Comtois who will be a compensated independent player at the end of next season.
Even though the free agent market opened a few days ago, we will certainly see a lot of personnel moves in the next few days, if not weeks.
