Ducks trying to cap their problems

Randy Youngman of the Orange County Register reports that the Anaheim Ducks are exploring a number of possibilities to trim payroll so they can fit defenseman Scott Niedermayer under the salary cap.

It’s believed that Ducks GM Brian Burke has been holding trade discussions with a number of teams, including the Florida Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers, Chicago Blackhawks and Caroline Hurricanes.

Since the Ducks only need to cut $880,000 from next year’s payroll, the likeliest player to be traded is defenseman Sean O’Donnell, who earns $1.25 million this season and $1.25 million next season, with forward Todd Marchant a close second.

Of course, if Burke is worried about not having enough cap room to re-sign pending restricted free agent forward Corey Perry, defenseman Mathieu Schneider and forward Andy McDonald could become casualties. Shedding Schneider’s $5.75 million annual salary would immediately create room for defenseman Scott Niedermayer and Perry under the cap. Speculation is that the New Jersey Devils are interested in Schneider if he becomes available.

But what happens if unrestricted free agent forward Teemu Selanne says he’s ready to come back to the Ducks?

However, Youngman speculates that Selanne “wouldn’t make any outrageous demands,” and so it’s unlikely the Ducks would have any salary cap problems upon his return.

As for when Selanne may return, Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe reports that the smooth skating Finn will decide if he’ll return to the club between January 1st and the February 26 trade deadline, while Youngman believes he may wait until the January 27 All-Star Game to decide, and could return for the last 30 to 40 games of the season.

Should the Ducks need to make more payroll cuts, there are other options.

According to Greg Logan of Newsday, the New York Islanders need to bolster their offense and could use someone like Ducks forwards Chris Kunitz or McDonald.

Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin might also interest the Islanders, though they would probably have to part with a “decent player and a draft pick” in exchange.