On the Anaheim Ducks …
- Ducks.NHL: Ducks GM Bob Murray on the state of the team and what he’s thinking heading into the trade deadline.
“As with any year when it comes to this point in time, if you can help them, or help a certain area of our team we believe is a little weak, where we might need a little help and depth, then you try to accomplish that. But as in the past, as I’ve always said, I’m not big believer in this day, in this timeframe. Just look at last year. We gave up a good, young prospect in William Karlsson and we tried to help the power play, which floundered all year, and we ended up not needing the player we traded for because the team turned it around. You can do too much and confuse the issue on the hockey team when there’s chemistry. It looks like there’s chemistry now. Everybody has fit into a role, so to speak, and is accepting their roles, which is huge. You don’t want to fool with it too much. The other example is the Stanley Cup year. It was one move, but it was a huge move. It didn’t seem important at the time, but it was a role player who accepted his role and did the job in a couple of situations in the playoffs that were vitally necessary.”
On if they would be looking to upgrade on the wing.
“That would be a fair assumption.”
On if they have the budget to make a move(s).
“I’ve saved enough in my budget to do something if I think it would really help us. As you well know, we have a budget here and we’ve never been a cap team. Until our revenues here dictate that, it won’t be the way. I have no problem with that. Henry is very fair with what he does here. I’ve saved enough that if I think something is right, I can do it. In saying that, I’ve never been one to go out and trade my first-round pick. I get lots of calls asking me about the Theodores, Larssons and Ritchies of the world. I’m just not one to do that now. If I’m going to do something like that, it would be at the draft, where I’ll make changes to my hockey team.”
On if they’ve made progress with any of their RFAs.
“We’ve tried on a couple and got nowhere. Now is not the time to talk anymore. After a certain point in time, we tried a couple things during that one long break where we only played once in 10 days. Nothing was going anywhere. It’s going to be an interesting summer around here, I’ll tell you that.”