The Anaheim Ducks re-signed defenseman Sami Vatanen to a four-year, $19.5 million contract extension.
Anaheim Ducks re-sign Sami Vatanen to a four-year deal.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Vatanen, 25, will earn $5 million per season in 2016-17 and 2017-18, followed by $4.5 million annually for 2018-19 and 2019-20. His average salary-cap hit is $4.875 million. It was over $1.262 million in 2015-16..
It’s a reasonable raise for Vatanen, who was slated to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. He was the leading scorer among Ducks defensemen the past two seasons. Last season, he led them in takeaways (34). He was also third in average ice time (21:18) and in blocked shots (105).
The assumption was the Ducks, a budget-conscious team, couldn’t afford to re-sign Vatanen, fellow defenseman Hampus Lindholm and goalie Frederik Andersen. With promising young blueliners such as Shea Theodore and Brandon Montour waiting in the wings, Vatanen’s signing could fuel speculation over Lindholm’s future in Anaheim. However, he’s coming off an entry-level deal without arbitration rights. The Ducks are likely to retain him as well, perhaps to an affordable bridge deal.
The most likely trade candidate could be Andersen, who’s only a year away from unrestricted free agent status
Well, that takes care of one constant speculation at least.
Could also make him more attractive? Decent contract and now you get cost certainty if you trade for him
While that’s a possibility – Ottawa did it with Hossa – somehow I doubt Anaheim ever considered dealing him. It’s “cost certainty” for them as well.
Hey guys. I’m a Flames fan and would love for them to pick up Andersen somehow. Just don’t know what Anaheim would want to make that trade happen. I’d be much more interested than that vs them going after MAF.
Just adds a little fuel to the fire. My 2 cents is Lindholm stays at around 6 Mil a year and either Vatanen or Fowler get moved by training camp. It actually makes Vatanen more valuable as now teams KNOW what he will cost and for how long and there will be NO summer times blues on getting him signed. Guess is that Andersen gets moved on draft day for draft picks and V. gets moved during the summer for a LW if Ducks cannot sign Perron or a UFA or draft picks in 2017.
that’s a very friendly contract for the ducks cant see vatenan get moved but could happen
6 mil a year seems pretty steep. It’s possible but that’s a lot to pay him.
So with V signed, wonder if a deal to ship Nyquist and Wings 2nd to the Ducks for Vatenen and the Ducks 3rd might interest them. Nyquist comes with a similar cap hit and the players full a need for both teams
Ha! Nyquist’s value has gone down quite a bit this season. No way are they getting Vatenen for that price.
I like Nyquist but you can’t get Vatanen for Nyquist. There must be more moving parts for that to happen. I think there are teams that can offer Ducks more than that.