Now that the Ducks have three defensemen worth over $4 million per season, with another one right around the corner, it’s time for the Buffalo Sabres to go LHD shopping!
In case you missed it, there was a damn good defenseman awarded with a decent-sized four-year contract over the weekend:
Ducks ink blueliner Sami Vatanen to four-year, $19.5-million deal https://t.co/upLLTqU9dC pic.twitter.com/rvaHDD4tBC
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) June 18, 2016
Having covered the Anaheim Ducks for most of the 2015-15 season, I can tell you that Sami Vatanen is a damn good blueliner. Heck, I only argued that the Buffalo Sabres should try and trade someone like Tyler Ennis for Vatanen here!
Of course, the majority of Buffalo Sabres fans are far more interested in one of Anaheim’s left-shooting blueliners, such as Cam Fowler or Hampus Lindholm, so the fact that Anaheim GM Bob Murray has locked Vatanen in certainly didn’t interest fans in the 716 . . . but it should, for the simple reason that Anaheim is now in a position where the team will seriously have to consider trading a defenseman such as Cam Fowler, or up-and-coming prospect Shea Theodore, something I would have not thought possible a few months ago.
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After the Ducks finish signing RFA Hampus Lindholm, the team will almost certainly have four blueliners that make at least $4 million per season on its ledger. Here’s a look at what the Ducks currently own its defensive corps, courtesy of General Fanager:
| Sami Vatanen | D | 25 | $4,875,000 | $4,875,000 | $4,875,000  | $4,875,000 |  UFA | |
| Kevin Bieksa | D | 35 | $4,000,000  | $4,000,000 | UFA | |||
| Cam Fowler | D | 24 | $4,000,000 | $4,000,000 | UFA | |||
| Simon Despres | D | 24 | $3,700,000 | $3,700,000 | $3,700,000 | $3,700,000 | $3,700,000 | … UFA 2021 |
| Clayton Stoner | D | 31 | $3,250,000 | $3,250,000 | UFA | |||
| Hampus Lindholm | D | 22 |  RFA | |||||
| Josh Manson | D | 24 | $825,000 | $825,000 | RFA | |||
| Korbinian Holzer | D | 28 | UFA |
If we assume that Lindholm will earn close to what Vatanen makes (although he should make less, simply because he is only 23 and still on the rise), the Ducks will have over $23 million dollars in salary committed to just 6 players! Factor in the impossible-to-deal-with contracts of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Ryan Kesler, who combined make $23.75 million, and it’s easy to see that the Ducks are looking down the barrel of a gun. Come July 1, the Ducks will have 11 players set to become either RFAs or UFAs, and while some are easily lost to free agency (Anton Khudobin, for example), Anaheim will still have to work with RFAs Lindholm, Rickard Rakell, Frederik Andersen,and Brandon Pirri, as well as make some tough decisions on UFAs Korbinian Holzer, Michael Santorelli, Chris Stewart, Shawn Horcoff, David Perron and Jamie McGinn.
I would not want to be Bob Murray right now. . . but I sure would want to be Buffalo GM Tim Murray. For starters, with all of those RFAs to sign, a UFA such as Jamie McGinn will probably find himself on the market on July 1, and I would love to see Murray bring McGinn back into the 716.
But let’s be honest: the real reason we all want the Buffalo Sabres to make a call to the team in SoCal is because we want GMTM to bring a top-4 LHD into Buffalo. As much as Bob Murray would love to keep his young defensive group together, you have to think something has to give out West. If Anaheim is ready to give Shea Theodore a year to prove he is ready to play in the NHL, the team might consider dealing Fowler, in which case the Sabres should be all ears.
According to Eric Stephens at the The Orange County Register, Ducks GM Bob Murray indicated that he would be looking for “a high-quality left winger” if possible, which puts the Buffalo Sabres at a bit of a disadvantage, because we all know GMTM is not going to ship Evander Kane out of town. However, the Sabres do own the 8th pick in the upcoming 2016 NHL Entry Draft, and there is no shortage of quality left-handed forwards who would be available for Anaheim to draft.
Next: Sabres LW Options: Darren Helm
The bottom line: Sami Vatanen’s new contract is good news for him, and possibly even better news for any team interested in acquiring the services of Cam Folwer (or Shea Theodore, although there is little reason for Anaheim to ship him out of town). For those of you who have your sights set on Fowler for some time now, it’s almost like the hockey gods have heard your prayers – almost.