Ducks E-News: Changes to the Flock Imminent?

[HFNHL Commish]

Unnamed sources within the Ducks' front office have confirmed that the team has been engaged in trade talks with no less than five teams over the past week. While no names of either teams or players were divulged, reports out of Columbus appear to indicate that there were discussions between Blue Jackets' GM Douglas Emerson and Ducks' GM Matt Gledhill. However, the two teams have broken off communication, likely meaning that the Ducks' target departed in one of Columbus' several recent deals.

General speculation has it that Coach Tortorella is unhappy with the offensive production of several of his forwards. In particular, Brian Rolston, Sami Kapanen, and Scott Mellanby have not provided the Ducks with the scoring depth that was expected at the outset of the season. For the time being Rolston's job appears to be safe, since he contributes on special teams. However, it's not unreasonable to think that either Kapanen or Mellanby, an assistant captain, could be dealt in the near future.

In other news, the Ducks agreed to new contracts with Kenny Jonsson, Brian Boucher, Mark Rycroft, and Jean-Marc Pelletier. Terms of the deals were not disclosed, in accordance with team policy.

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[HFNHL Commish]

Well, the cat's out of the bag.

As first reported by HFNHL correspondent Sean Keogh in the latest edition of his "Power Rankings", the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim have acquired veteran winger Tony Amonte from the Colorado Avalanche. Heading to Denver are winger Scott Mellanby and two draft picks, a 4th in 2005 and a 7th in 2004.

"Letting go of Scott Mellanby was a very difficult decision to make," commented Ducks GM Matt Gledhill at a Friday evening press conference. "That said, we felt like we weren't getting enough scoring from our top two lines. We anticipate Tony helping us in that regard."

"Adding Amonte left us with a logjam on the right side. It was a numbers game, and Scotty was simply the odd man out."

It is expected that Zigmund Palffy will replace Mellanby as the Ducks' second assistant captain. Al MacInnis is currently the captain, while Mike Ricci is the other assistant.