Lydman Goes to Anaheim

The Ducks had to get themselves into the defensemen market with the retirement of Scott Niedermayer and their first pick-up is Toni Lydman, who comes over to the Western Conference from the Buffalo Sabres, where he was a staple for the last five seasons. Lydman signed a 3-year deal worth $9 million, a $3 million cap hit each year, which is about right for the money that is being spent here on July 1st. 

In 2010, Lydman featured in 67 games for the Sabres, only picking up 20 points (4 goals and 16 assists), which was a bit of an off year for the Finnish blueliner.  He was sidelined twice, once with a hand injury and once with a groin problem this year, hampering his season.  He should give the Ducks some quality minutes, which will be all they are looking for in a year where they are retooling.

The Ducks are still in a decent rebuilding phase this Summer, having only 15 players signed on for $38.4 million, which is still well below the salary cap floor.  The Ducks probably won't spend a great deal of money for the 2011 season, but they do have a good core of players, plus some RFAs still to sign, so they should be in good shape by the time training camp rolls around.

Already the Ducks defense looks nothing like what it was not too long ago, with Lubomir Visnovsky and Toni Lydman now leading the squad on paper.  The trick to the 2011 season will be trying to find chemistry right away and translating that into good defense in front of Jonas Hiller.  If the Ducks can do that, they should be fairly competitive.