The Anaheim Ducks signed veteran right-handed defenseman Radko Gudas to a three-year $4 million per year deal.
Gudas is 33 yeas-old and has 682 career games under his belt in his 11 year career. Standing at 6’0 208 pounds, Gudas has been a solid stay-at-home defenseman throughout his career. Gudas brings the size and physicality that the Ducks blue line has lacked since the departure of Josh Manson at last year’s trade deadline. The highest hit total by a Ducks player this season was 216 by Simon Benoit; meanwhile, Gudas has had 355 and 312 in the last two seasons. The Ducks owned the worst defense in the NHL this past season, and Gudas will provide some help in that aspect.
Being a right-handed defenseman, Gudas could be the only move the Ducks make on the blue line, given the rich prospect pool the Ducks have coming up. With Jackson LaCombe and Drew Helleson having a decent chance of making the NHL roster out of camp, Gudas will fill the missing right defense hole in the lineup. And speaking of the Ducks being young, Gudas is now the oldest player on the Ducks roster at just 33 years old.
This will be Gudas’ fifth NHL team in his career after spending time with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, and most recently, the Florida Panthers. Gudas’ Panthers just finished an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Finals after beating the heavily favored Boston Bruins in the first round after being down 3-1 in the series. Although the Panthers came up short in the finals, Gudas was a big part of the Panthers blue line in their run.
Since the Ducks have yet to sign their RFAs, the Ducks still have just over $13.2 million to spend to reach the cap floor, and Cap Friendly has the Ducks with just over $35 million in cap space left after signing Gudas. Needless to say, the Ducks offseason is far from over.
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