The Bryzgalov Situation

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.