On Saturday, Anaheim GM Bob Murray threw some cold water on the speculation that his Ducks were in the running to acquire young Jonathan Drouin from Tampa Bay.
“If you listen to everybody and listen to all the … we’re one of the front runners in that aren’t we in that? Every time I turn the page I hear we’re making a deal with a certain team on the East Coast,” Murray told the Los Angeles Times.
“There’s more than just him that’s probably out there and available right now. Let’s just leave it at that. We’re looking at a whole bunch of things. We know he’s there, but there’s a few others out there, too, that haven’t requested trades. Requesting trades on entry level, that’s something new for you and I. ... Entry-level players requesting trades. Amazing.”
The Ducks have been playing some good hockey lately, going 7-3-1 in their last 11. They’ve even started to score some goals, with 10 of them in their last three games.
So, at the very least, Murray has to be feeling better than he was early in the season when he said the Ducks were “severely under-performing as a group.”
On Sunday, newly acquired forward David Perron scored in a 3-2 loss to the Kings.
Despite losing, the Ducks were pleased with how they played.
“I think we showed we can play with them,” forward Andrew Cogliano told reporters. “They are probably the toughest team to play in the league when they are playing their game. They are just very good. I think we had them on their heels a lot in the third period.”
Anaheim hosts slumping Minnesota on Wednesday, before leaving on a three-game trip through Washington, Detroit, and Boston.