Last year, Ducks GM Bob Murray loaded up on veterans like Shawn Horcoff, Chris Stewart and Mike Santorelli to upgrade his forward group.
This year, he’s doing something similar -- albeit in a different fashion.
After news broke that 31-year-old winger David Booth would attend training camp on a PTO, the O.C. Register reports that another veteran forward -- 32-year-old Sean Bergenheim -- will be there as well.
A three-time 15-goal scorer, Bergenheim spent last season with Bern of the Swiss League. His last NHL action came in ’14-15, when he scored nine goals and 19 points in 56 games for the Panthers and Wild.
It’s a bit surprising Murray is going this route again, especially since none of last year’s acquisitions paid off, and the Ducks actually looked a little old and a little slow at times.
In addition to the Bergenheim and Booth PTOs, Anaheim has also signed journeyman winger Mason Raymond, veteran center Antoine Vermette and noted tough guy Jared Boll.
Of course, the PTOs could simply be a way to get warm bodies into camp. Anaheim has several players still participating in the World Cup of Hockey, including Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Hampus Lindholm, John Gibson and Jakob Silfverberg.