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2010 NHL Free Agency: Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks agree to five-year, $25.5M deal

Bobby Ryan

Anaheim Ducks right winger Bobby Ryan warms up before facing the Colorado Avalanche in the first period of an NHL hockey game on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

AP

About a week ago, it appeared that the Anaheim Ducks and Bobby Ryan just about signed a new contract. Staying consistent with the Ilya Kovalchuk Groundhog Day spirit of this free agent summer, it took all this time for the actual deal to be finalized. Various sources including Ducks beat reporter Eric Stephens report that they reached a five year, $25.5 million deal today.

That $5.1 million annual cap hit is $400K less per year than the $5.5 million annual value we originally anticipated. While that seems small in wacky hockey Monopoly dollars, it might be meaningful that Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf remain the club’s two highest paid forwards. Surely that matters in the grand scheme of crazy athlete egos. (Of course, Lubomir Visnovsky is the team’s highest paid player overall, so nothing really needs to make sense.)

Ryan will lose a couple years of free agency but still lands a hefty deal all things considered. The Ducks avoid that scary bottleneck situation when Perry and Getzlaf’s contracts expire and will enjoy a few years of comfort as Jonas Hiller and their three young power forwards are wrapped up for the near future.

Of course, the cash-strapped team could use a little help on their blue line if they want to be more than just a scrappy low seed in the Western Conference (if not a cellar dweller). Perhaps the team would want to roll the dice with expensive veteran defenseman Sheldon Souray? I would advise against that - after all, the Ducks need to spend their money wisely, not in a panic - but it’s an interesting thought, at least.

Either way, it’s a nice deal, especially for the Ducks.