Teemu Selanne: The Finnish Flash or The Biggest Domino of the Summer?

Teemu Selanne (RW), now 40 and close to the end of his career, has recently been re-signed by the Anaheim Ducks. Everyone seems to be in favor of his decision to not retire, but was it the right choice for both him and his team?

Yes to both. "The Finnish Flash" was on pace for 40 goals last season. Even though injuries got the best of him, he has not slowed down at all. The Anaheim Ducks' power play percentage remarkably rose to the top of the conference when he came off the injury reserve at the end of the season. At the price of $3.25M plus bonuses, the Ducks have made a great deal re-signing a possible 40-goal scorer for less than the market price. 

With the re-signing of Selanne, the Ducks have a solid top-six. 

Ryan - Getzlaf - Perry
Beleskey - Koivu - Selanne
Blake - Marchant - Lupul

However, their defense is suspect and severely lacks any star power. 

Visnovsky - Mikkelson
Lydman - Sutton
Brookbank - Sbisa

The Ducks have a nice supply of RWs in their system and Bobby Ryan (RFA) happens to be a RW that hasn't been cooperating in contract negotiations. With the signing of Selanne, the Ducks could give up the former top pick Bobby Ryan for a stud defenseman. This would give the Ducks some flexibility cap-wise and it would help round out their defense corps.

Trading Ryan would then allow the Ducks to sign fan favorite Paul Kariya (LW) giving them this line-up.

Kariya - Getzlaf - Perry
Blake - Koivu - Selanne
Beleskey - Carter/Bonino - Lupul
Marchant - Chipchura - Bodie/Parros

Visnovsky - X
Lydman - Sutton
Brookbank - Sbisa

Hiller

McElhinney

That gives the Ducks three scoring lines and a line that isn't afraid to drop the gloves. This ultimately transforms a once ailing Ducks lineup to a legitimate contender.

This scenario is very possible as quite a few teams have inquired about Ryan in the past. His stock has especially risen lately due to the Kovalchuk fiasco as teams are now looking to the trading block for offensive power. Either way, the Ducks come out on top with this signing as they now have limitless possibilities to build a contender.