On Tuesday, the Anaheim Ducks announced that they had re-signed defenseman Sami Vatanen to a new 2-year deal, reportedly worth $2.525 million. The deal should work about to be about $1.26 million per season against the cap.The 23-year old Finnish defender was up and down in the 2014 season with the Ducks, but made pretty good when he was up, scoring 6 goals and 21 points in 48 games with the club, ranking 87th among all defensemen. If Vatanen is good enough to stay up with the club for the entire year, his stock is destined to improve.
The rub with Vatanen's situation is that he may still be considered somewhat of a bubble player, given what he was able to play last season and now there are a couple of new names in the mix on the blueline, who he'll have to compete with. Vatanen has a more offensive edge to his game, so he may get a better opportunity paired up with a stay-at-home defender, which the Ducks have a few of now.
Right now, I have the Ducks with eight viable options for their blueline on their projected roster and they come in at a very cap-friendly $18.8 million as a whole. Ideally, I think most teams will be rocking seven defensemen on their active roster on any given night, but since the team doesn't have as many forwards on their side quite yet, eight defensemen will work.
This brings their totals up to 21 players on the roster, including a goaltending tandem, with a cap cost of $54.2 million, leaving lots of room for their two remaining options at the forward position. The Ducks will be dangerous, especially if they continue to win and go looking for more talent at the trade deadline.
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