Scott Niedermayer is Back with the Ducks

There won’t be any drawn out soap opera involving Anaheim Ducks veteran defenceman Scott Niedermayer and whether or not he will return for a 19^th season. This four- time Stanley Cup winner who was chosen third overall by the New Jersey Devils back in 1991 made his decision on Thursday night which meant that his general manager Bob Murray who described Niedermayer as being “irreplaceable” had to be a little creative with the salary cap. With the soon to be 36 year-old in negotiations for another contract, Murray couldn’t afford to keep his other number one defenceman Chris Pronger and veteran goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere without going over the cap. Backed into a corner Murray came out swinging on Friday in making room for Niedermayer by trading Pronger in a deal that landed Anaheim a couple of high draft picks over the next couple of years along with scoring forward Joffrey Lupul and a prospect in Ladislav Smid. Even though at almost 36 he may have lost a step Steve Yzerman who has the title of executive director for Team Canada was thrilled about the prospects of including this Alberta native to the team that will represent Canada next February at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. “Obviously happy,” said Yzerman about this defenceman who scored 59 points last season. “I thought he had an excellent year, got stronger as the year went on and played outstanding in the playoffs. There’s going to be some younger players on the D so I think it’s important to have some of those veterans that have been there and he’s one of those.” With his Olympic Gold Medal from 2002 he would definitely be a perfect fit for what will be a much younger team. After winning his last Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy in 2007 with the Ducks Niedermayer couldn’t make up his mind during that off season whether to retire or not. The following season he didn’t report to camp and didn’t know if he still had the passion to play. He ended up coming back but was a step behind everyone who was in mid season form. After posting 25 points and a –2 rating he promised the team that if there is a next time he would make his decision in a certain amount of time and stick to it. That’s exactly what he did and be announcing early his intentions of coming back it didn’t handcuff the Ducks in terms of getting value for Pronger and budgeting to within the 56.8 million dollar cap space.