The Anaheim Ducks have come to terms with defenseman Christian Djoos on a new contract, announcing a one-year extension with the 2019-20 trade addition. CapFriendly reports that the deal carries a $1MM AAV. The Ducks also confirmed a one-year deal with fellow defenseman Jani Hakanpaa.
Djoos, 25, hopes next season goes better than this one did. The trouble for Djoos began this past off-season, when he went to salary arbitration with the Washington Capitals. Djoos lost the case to Washington, but the arbitration award still came in $450K above where the team had filed. The cap-strapped Caps were left with few options but to bury Djoos in the minors. After playing in 108 games with Washington, he saw just two games and 16 total minutes of NHL action until the trade deadline. It was then that he was dealt to the Ducks for forward Daniel Sprong. He had only played in nine games with Anaheim for a total of eleven on the year before the season was put on pause.
Fortunately, the early returns for Djoos in Anaheim were strong. In those nine games, he recorded three points and averaged more than 21 minutes per night. This was a major role for Djoos, greater than he had ever played in Washington. Granted, the Ducks were not fully healthy on the blue line at the time, but by taking advantage of the opportunity afforded him, Djoos earned the trust of his new organization. The young defender stands a strong chance of winning a regular role in Anaheim again next season and at $1MM could prove to be a bargain for the Ducks.
For the minutes that he’s been playing since coming to anaheim, that’s a bargain
@andrewgauldin – I had to do a double take on this one, as that ATOI number just *had* to be a typo, right? Nope, he’s at 21:22 right now and if that continues, he will be a tremendous bargain that the Caps will eventually regret losing. Not huge regret, mind you, but one of those “damn!” moments for B-Mac. Props to Trader Bob on this one!
I would argue that Bob made it mandatory that Dallas Eakins gives those minutes to Djoos, as he didn’t really earn it in Anaheim. But so far he hasn’t deserved to lose those minutes. From day one, Anaheim made him the lone defenseman on the power play, the number one guy. So they definitely think highly of him, but not much more than a million bucks lol.
Ducks desperately need a defenseman that can take control of the power play, especially with Fowler in and out of the lineup. So good for Anaheim, I think we definitely regained some value after terribly losing the Sprong for Petterson trade.
@andrewgauldin – You have to admit that when any team is forced into a “well, we gotta put *somebody* there” spot, it often times turns into a revolving door. Maybe Djoos will prove an exception to that. It seems like I was listening in on 830 KLAA during every game Fowler got banged up. I must be a jinx for him. :(
Caps wont regret it, they didnt play him because they have 7 better defenseman.
@JP8 – B-Mac would regret having a serviceable D-man logging 20+ min on the cheap. Any team would. Many teams are struggling to find worthy blueliners for the bottom 2-3 that fit their cap. They’re the ones with the revolving doors.