Anaheim officially announced they have reached a contract extension with physical winger Chris Kunitz. Kunitz signed a four-year extension, avoiding the distraction this season of becoming a 2008 UFA.

After initially being waived by the Ducks, picked up by the Thrashers and waived once more, Kunitz returned to find his spot on the Ducks top line with Andy McDonald and Teemu Selanne. He netted 25 goals and added 35 helpers for 60 points in 81 games, while also winning his first Stanley Cup.

Financial terms were not disclosed but the deal is expected to pay Kunitz in the 3.5 million - 4 million dollar range per year.

Varius’ Note: Good signing. One less player to worry about losing this upcoming summer. Now extend Getzlaf and Perry before they get offer sheets and you’re all set Burke!

It has been reported that young goalie prospect Bobby Goepfert has obtained a one-year contract from the Ducks after the Pittsburgh Penguins opted to set St. Cloud State’s only two time all-American free. He will be at Ducks training camp to silence his critics and prove his worth.

Most expect him to earn a spot in Portland, sharing duties with Swedish star Jonas Hiller. Goepfert isn’t used to the spotlight, as one can tell from his quote on his dining preferences:

“We’re going out to celebrate at Red Lobster. Some of the guys I’m training with might laugh about that. They’re probably used to the more expensive steakhouses or something, but I’m a Red Lobster kind of guy.”

Goepfert looks forward to meeting and training with Ducks’ goaltending consultant Francois Allaire, who he called “the best goaltending mind in the world”. In the 2003 IIHF World U20 Championship, Goepfert played for Team USA and led his peers (including Penguins’ starter Marc-Andre Fleury and Thrashers starter Kari Lehtonen) in save percentage, blocking 93.71% of shots fired at him.

While there have been other hot Ducks’ topics taking precedence this summer (such as the Penner offer sheet and the potential retirement of both Selanne and Niedermayer), the Ducks have another key issue to resolve sooner rather than later.

Ducks’ GM Brian Burke has publicly stated that he feels backup goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov deserves a chance at starting. However with the new four-year deal given to Ducks’ goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere earlier this summer, it will not be as a Duck. Burke also called Ilya very classy and a “stand up guy” about the entire situation. He said he is trying to find the right offer for Bryzgalov to accommodate his wishes.

The trouble is, there aren’t very many teams seeking to acquire a potential starter right now. So the question is, what does Burke do? He signed Swedish goaltender Jonas Hiller (who is unproven at the NHL level) to a rather expensive, bonus-laden contract.

The thought on Hiller is he will mostly play in the AHL all season. His cap hit would be too much for the Ducks to absorb at this point to be the big club’s backup. If Giguere suffers a long-term injury, he could see a call up at which point his cap hit would be less and the Ducks would be allowed to exceed the cap if Giguere hits the long-term IR list.

Boston, Florida and Toronto were three teams thought to be after Bryzgalov, but they went out and traded for Manny Fernandez, Tomas Vokoun and Vesa Toskala respectively. Who might be left as potential suitors?

The Tampa Bay Lightning may not be confident in their tandem of Marc Denis and Johan Holmqvist, but with the roughly 3 million Denis makes, they will give him another shot this year. The Lightning would have to feel Bryzgalov was enough of an upgrade to give Burke what he wants for him and I don’t think at this point they do.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are the only other team I could see going after Bryzgalov right now. Leclaire and Norrena are both still quite unproven and Bryzgalov would have a serious shot at stealing away the starting goaltender position there. This is the most likely trade scenario I see to move Bryzgalov during the off season. What would the Ducks want ? I’d venture on prospects and/or picks to not add additional salary to their payroll.

There are advantages to holding off on moving Bryzgalov right away, though. If Niedermayer and/or Selanne retires, Bryzgalov could be an asset to attempt to secure a replacement (even if Bertuzzi and Schneider were signed for that purpose, you know with losing Penner now, Burke would want another piece). If Giguere struggles to start the season, perhaps due to his recent surgery, Bryzgalov could stand-in until Giguere is back at 100%. Lastly, as Burke himself called “morbid circumstances”, if another team’s goalie goes down to injury or struggles out of the gate, that may open up the possible destinations for Ilya to go.

In conclusion, there are a lot of question marks about the goaltender situation much like there are about the team situation due to Selanne and Niedermayer’s pending decisions. I predict to see Ilya gone before Christmas though.Where to and for what price are very up in the air, I guess time will tell. At least the off season has been anything but boring this year as a Ducks’ fan.

Joe DiPenta has claimed he has reached a new one year deal with the Ducks, according to the Halifax Daily News. Joe had this to say:

“I made a verbal commitment Wednesday with (Anaheim senior vice-president of hockey operations) Bobby Murray and the Anaheim management. It’s just a matter of signing the paper and it’s going to get faxed back to me. The details are all done. It’s a one-year deal, so I’m happy to be back. It’s exciting.”

The figures of the deal are expected to be similar to the bargain price Joe played for last season.

If you were wondering why I haven’t posted anything lately, especially with the Dustin Penner decision being a big story, I was out of town without internet access for the past week. I’m back now and ready to get rockin’ on all things ducks once more.

What should you expect this week? My views on Burke’s latest public comments, the Bryzgalov situation, the Ducks cap figure, rumors going around on the net and a lot more.

Stay tuned!

Ducks’ starter Jean-Sebastien Giguere underwent successful surgery to fix a sports hernia injury. Giguere is expected back for the opening of Anaheim training camp on September 30th.

Giguere recently signed a long-term deal to lock him in as the Ducks’ number one goalie for years to come. He won the Conn Smythe in 2003 while losing in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and played very solidly this past season leading Anaheim to the Cup.

Burke has said the injury will not prevent him from dealing backup (who wants his chance as a starter) Ilya Bryzgalov if and when the right deal comes along. However with no team truly seeking a goaltender at this point, Burke might have to wait until the season begins.

After waiting until the final moments of the deadline, Brian Burke declined to match Edmonton’s 21.5 million dollar offer to youngster Dustin Penner. Anaheim won’t lose Penner for nothing though; due to the amount of the offer, the Ducks obtained the Oilers’ 1st, 2nd and 3rd round draft picks in 2008.

If the Oilers tank, that has the potential to translate into three quality picks and a potential first overall. Reportedly, Burke was presented with several trade offers which would have allowed him to match the contract, however he failed to justify any of the moves and paying what he considers a ridiculous overpayment.

On an interesting note, Penner had been living in the same Newport home that had also belonged to former Duck Joffrey Lupul. Lupul was traded to Edmonton last season in the Chris Pronger deal (he was subsequently moved to Philadelphia this summer).

Penner is a risk for the Oilers, as if he follows in Lupul’s footsteps, he will definitely be over-priced. However if he improves on an impressive late season and playoffs with the Duck, he could become the power forward Lowe hopes for and become a long-term bargain.

Varius’ Note: While I am disappointed to see Penner go, I am glad Burke declined to match. I am also interested to see how Dustin does in Edmonton as well as what Burke does with the picks.