So grier’s prediction about Ryan Whitney didn’t come true, but Whitney did get traded today, a big trade less than a week away from the deadline.  The Ducks traded Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi (a junior prospect) to the Pens for Whitney, effectively doubling the number of defensemen they have under contract next year.  For those counting, that number now stands at two- Pronger (one year left) and Whitney (four years left).

The Ducks know better than most that you need good D to win championships, and this is a pretty good move by their new GM, Bob Murray.  Kunitz was a distant third in the Ducks trio of top forwards- Chris Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf are much better players.  With Bobby Ryan breaking out this year, I’m sure Murray had him higher than Kunitz in his internal rankings too.

So now we have to assume that Scott Niedermayer will be traded, because the Ducks’ willingness to re-sign him just went down by about 90%.  The Devils have been oft-mentioned in their interest for  SN, but the question is, what would they give in exchange for the tearful reunion?  Johnny Oduya could be on the block, but to me, that sounds like too much- Sweet Lou could run into Scotty’s reluctance to commit just like Brian Burke did.  With the Devils’ needing to re-sign Paul Martin after next year, and only Colin White and Bryce Salvador locked up long-term, they’re probably not looking for any more defensive uncertainty than the Ducks are.

In terms of the Ducks’ playoff prospects this year, I’m not sure they changed a whole lot- Sleek has talked about this over at Battle of California, and at least according to the site he uses,  the Ducks’ current chances at making the playoffs are well south of a coin flip.

The exciting soap opera continues.