Ducks GM Murray will do “everything in my power” to re-sign Getzlaf, Perry

With a crucial offseason on the horizon, Anahiem general manager Bob Murray announced what his No. 1 priority is for the immediate future:

Getting Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry to stick with the Ducks.

That’s what Murray told the OC Register on Sunday, saying his biggest goal for this season (aside from, y’know, winning hockey games) is to get his two stars locked into deals.

“It’s my priority,” Murray said of Perry and Getzlaf, set to become UFAs this summer. “They’ve been Anaheim Ducks. I love those guys.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to sign them.”

Here’s more, from the Register:

Getzlaf and Perry, both 27, are in the final year of contracts that carry identical salary cap hits of $5.325million. The five-year deals they signed in 2007 are structured differently as Getzlaf will make $6.125million this season while Perry, whose highest salary came in 2009-10, will be paid $4.875 million.

The two figure to command more — perhaps much more. At what number the Ducks are willing to go to retain one or both could be the deciding factor.

Perry and Getzlaf both told the Register there’s no timetable on getting deals done — but it’s clear their deals have been on the table for quite some time.

Prior to the lockout, Murray spent part of the summer talking to both players’ agents (Getzlaf is represented by agents Gerry Johannson and Steve Kotlowitz while Perry’s handlers are Mark Guy and Newport Sports.)

He expects to re-start those talks soon and, according to CBC’s Elliotte Friedman, pick up where they left off:

While both players were told Anaheim was willing to discuss long-term extensions, Getzlaf preferred to wait and see the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement; Perry’s negotiations went further, but Ducks owner Henry Samueli made it very clear he was not willing to explore the bonus/back-diving structure of a Zach Parise-type deal.

With the salary cap dropping to $64.3 million next year, Murray will have some tough decisions to make. Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Toni Lydman are also set to become UFAs while 2009 first-rounder Kyle Palmieri will become an RFA.

According to Capgeek, the Ducks currently have just 12 players under contract for 2013-14, with approximately $31 million in available cap space.