Western News and Notes - 11.06.08
Ashley Gallant | National Hockey League
Nov 6, 08:10 PM | Hype this story!
Sundin works out; meets with teams
If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, well….it just may end up being a Duck.
It is all-but-confirmed that Mats Sundin is returning to the NHL this season. He is working out in Los Angeles and some are saying that he will suit up for his new team within a month.
But just what team will that be?
The Vancouver Canucks still have their 2-year, $20 million offer on the table, so you know they’re interested.
Apparently, Brian Burke and the Ducks are also interested. Sundin met with Burke Tuesday evening for about an hour to – apparently – discuss the possibility of him signing with Anaheim.
Just think about this for a second. In order for Sundin to sign with the Ducks, Burke will have to offer something very significant. It would likely be in the $7-10 million range. They just moved Mathieu Schneider to make room for Teemu Selanne, so they will have to dump a lot more salary to bring in Sundin.
According to nhlnumbers.com, Anaheim has $390,000 in cap space – that’s it. Who are they going to trade to free up some money? They could part with captain Scott Niedermayer, which would free up $6.75 million. Or maybe trade both Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf – that’s $10.6 million right there.
Any way you look at it, Burke will have to part with a very valuable player(s) if he hopes to land the 37-year-old Sundin. It’s just not worth it.
Free agent Mark Parrish has found a new home in Dallas.
The Dallas Stars signed Parrish to a two-way contract this week. He will earn $500,000 if he stays in the NHL, and $100,000 in the AHL.
The 31-year-old right winger signed a 5-year contract with the Minnesota Wild in 2006, but the final three years were bought out this past summer after a disappointing season.
Wellwood is finding his groove
It wasn’t long ago that people were writing off Canucks forward Kyle Wellwood.
He was publicly criticized by his coach for showing up to camp out of shape.
He was the butt of many a joke in Vancouver.
And he was demoted to the AHL, with some believing that his NHL career was over.
And yours truly didn’t have too high of an opinion of his on-ice performance.
This week, though, he is trying to prove everyone wrong.
The 25-year-old was recalled from the Manitoba Moose in late October to replace Pavol Demitra. He scored a goal and added an assist in Vancouver’s loss to Columbus, and scored two more against Nashville on Tuesday night. He is the team’s leading scorer heading into tonight’s game against Phoenix – six goals in eight games.
Wellwood is the smallest guy on the team, doesn’t have the best shot and certainly isn’t a physical player, but the one thing he has going for him is his head.
“He’s really smart,” said Alex Burrows. “He’s got a lot of deception. He handles the puck really well.
“He’s patient with the puck. It’s probably his biggest quality. All those things together makes him a really good player.”
Hopefully everything will continue to click for Wellwood, or else he just may be out of chances.
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