Could Ducks be looking to bring in Gomez?
Scott Gomez, a 12-year veteran with 686 career points and two Stanley Cups on his resume, is now officially on the market and the Ducks have only Ryan Getzlaf and Saku Koivuas proven NHL centers.
Might seem like a perfect match to make, right? Perhaps, if it was the 2005-06 Gomez or even the 2009-10 version.
But the 33-year-old veteran is coming off two horrific seasons with Montreal, which will end his tumultuous time in La Belle Province by buying him out of his large contract after he cleared waivers Thursday.
So why would the Ducks be interested, which they are believed to at least be discussing it internally? The club’s other two presumed centers for Saturday night’s opener against the Vancouver Canucks — Nick Bonino and Peter Holland — have all of 89 NHL games between them.
From a financial sense, the Ducks wouldn’t hurt themselves much. Under the compliance buyout rules in the new collective bargaining agreement, the Canadiens would carry Gomez’s albatross of a $7.35 million salary cap hit for this season.
Montreal will also be responsible for paying Gomez a pro-rated amount of his $5.5 million salary in 2012-13 and buying him out of his $4.5 million owed for 2013-14 to get out from under his contract.
Since Gomez is still set to make significant money over the next two years, it would seem that the Ducks or any other team in need of a center could sign him at a very affordable rate. But is it a potential good buy or buyer beware?