Selanne Returns to Anaheim

If you have been keeping an eye and/or an ear on the Teemu Selanne situation, it really sounded like he was close to making a return to the NHL for another season, as he was testing out his knee in a number of different skating sessions. Well, it became official on Thursday afternoon, as the Ducks signed him to a 1-year deal, reportedly worth $4 million.

The 41-year old Finn was contemplating retirement for the better part of the Summer, but after a number of workouts and likely looking back on an excellent 2011 season (31 goals and 49 assists in 73 games), the prolific scorer has made the decision to return for the 2012 season, much to the enjoyment of Ducks' fans and poolies everywhere.

Well, seeing as though Selanne is 41 years old at the signing of this new deal, it does seem to be a bit of a stretch to expect the Finnish Flash to repeat his 80-point performance in the 2012 season, but there is little doubt that he'll be a productive member of the Ducks squad this year.  Personally, I am going to mark his projections at around 70 points, but there is definitely some give in this projection, as he is still rather explosive and still has that excellent shot.

Forwards		Defense		Goalies
Ryan Getzlaf	90	Lubomir Visnovsky	55	Jonas Hiller	75
Corey Perry	85	Cam Fowler	35	Dan Ellis	20
Bobby Ryan	80	Kurtis Foster	30
Teemu Selanne	70	Toni Lydman	25
Saku Koivu	45	Francois Beauchemin	15
Jason Blake	40	Luca Sbisa	15
Andrew Cogliano	30	Sheldon Brookbank	5
Dan Sexton	30
Brandon McMillan	25
Matt Beleskey	20
J-F Jacques	5
George Parros	5
Kyle Palmieri	25	Matt Smaby	5	Jeff Deslauriers	5
Andrew Gordon	10	Nate Guenin	5

As you can see, Selanne will be able to bridge the gap between the top three players and some of the other secondary offense on this Anaheim squad, giving a boost to both Saku Koivu and Jason Blake's projections, as they were Selanne's linemates for good portions of the year in 2011.

With Selanne now on the books with his $4 million deal, the Ducks now have 12 forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies, plus a buyout, for a projected annual total of $57 million, leaving them plenty of space, if needed, down the line in the season.  If the Ducks make another big push for the playoffs, they will be able to spend some money at the trade deadline, which could make them even more dangerous.