Sorry I've been away for a few weeks. I've recently devoted my nights and weekends to moving to a new house.
At any rate, this week's PuckToon doesn't have to do with actual trade news, but rather a built-up speculation that's been building around the Anaheim Ducks and defenseman Mathieu Schneider. The Orange County Register's Dan Wood summarizes the Ducks' current salary cap dilemma and its apparent solution: "Signed as a free agent by the Ducks in 2007, when it appeared that Scott Niedermayer was bound for retirement, Schneider is now the most likely candidate to be sacrificed as the club must cut payroll to get beneath the NHL's $56.7 million salary cap for 2008-09." As Woods notes, though, the Schneider situation probably won't get resolved until teams know if or where Mats Sundin will sign.
The unfortunate aspect of needing to move Schneider and his $5.625 M cap hit is that the defenseman did nothing wrong on the ice last year. He was a top-20 scorer among defensemen, with 39 points in 65 games, and even earned a few Norris Trophy votes. However, even with Schneider's strong play, once Scott Niedermayer decided to return to the team, Schneidermayer's salary became too much for Anaheim's third-highest-paid defenseman.
Besides, there are still rumors in Anaheim that Teemu Selanne will return for another season, and the Ducks will need some freed up cap room for that signing. The OC Register's Randy Youngman points out a hilarious posting from Steven on bleacherreport.com: "My best friend's neighbor, who cleans the house two streets over from Teemu's house in OC, told me that the lady across the street is telling her mother that Teemu's wife is sharing with her friends that Teemu wants to play in Anaheim. It's solid info."
Whatever happens with Teemu, it's still a certainty that the Ducks need to ditch salary, even if it means trading away a solid performer like Schneider. As the cartoon implies, the break-up actually has very little to do with Schneider the player, but rather it's a result of the Niedermayer situation. It's an unfortunate situation for Schneider for sure, but this scenario was a very distinct possibility when he signed in Anaheim last summer.
