Could Bobby Ryan receive an offer sheet? And other Ducks news

Many people wonder if Anaheim Ducks forward Bobby Ryan, who is a restricted free agent, could be a prime target for an offer sheet from an opposing team. A young talented winger of his age (23) and star caliber (71 goals, 60 assists for 131 points in 168 NHL games played) could be very enticing for the 29 other NHL teams. But, would an offer sheet be pointless knowing the Ducks would most probably match almost any offer, like the Blackhawks did in the case of rearguard Niklas Hjalmarsson?

Unless the offer is ridiculously high and the team making the offer sheet tries to front load the deal, in which case it would be difficult for the Ducks to match, they might walk away and take the draft picks. But, I believe Anaheim would likely find a way to free up the necessary money for the first few seasons and then the rest of the deal would likely become very affordable.

I also think the offer would have to be around or over an average of $5 million as the Ducks already have offered Bobby Ryan a five-year, $25 million deal, for Anaheim to consider taking a first, second and third round draft pick as compensation from the signing team. Therefore, the team making an offer that high would have to have its first, second and third round picks in next year’s NHL entry draft, as well as the cap space and the money to make such an offer, which reduces the number of potential teams.

Ryan is looking for a shorter deal in order to hit the jackpot on his next long-term deal with Anaheim or another NHL team, but he has to be signed by December 1st, otherwise he cannot play for the remainder of the current season as per the last CBA.

Ducks GM Bob Murray is also talking to Teemu Selanne about a potential return next season, but the Finnish veteran is still undecided about his future in the NHL. Selanne, who turned 40 earlier this month, notched 27 goals and 21 assists for 48 points in only 54 games with Anaheim last season. In 1186 career games, he scored 606 goals and added 654 assists for 1,260 points.

There is no development regarding an agreement on a contract between the Ducks and defenseman James Wisniewski. Because he went to arbitration, Wisniewski cannot receive an offer sheet from other teams, but the 26-year-old defender might use Niklas Hjalmarsson, as a comparable. The date for the arbitration hearing between the parties has been set for Aug. 3 in Toronto. Wisniewski had three goals and 27 assists for 30 points over 69 games last season.

The Ducks who currently have around $15 million in cap space are also loooking to add defensive depth to a very thin core composed of Lubomir Visnovsky, Toni Lydman, Brett Festerling, Danny Syvret, Sheldon Brookbank and most likely Wisniewski.

GM Bob Murray is reportedly interested in Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa who was heavily shopped by GM Mike Gillis, at least prior to Sami Salo’s freaking injury (a severed Achilles tendon while playing ball hockey), which will keep him out of action for 3-6 months.

Another defenseman of interest could be offensive rearguard Sheldon Souray, who has been made available by the Edmonton Oilers earlier this summer. However, Souray comes with a hefty $5.4 million cap hit and the Ducks would likely have to convince the Oilers to take on Jason Blake’s $4-million cap hit in return to make a deal possible…