The Ducks are in an excellent position long-term in the loaded Pacific Divison.

Walter Cronkite once said, "The perils of duck hunting are great – especially for the duck". Anaheim should not rush into any trades or deals and certainly not because this is Teemu Selanne's last season, as Anthony Lancione suggests in his latest article called Ducks Must Go All-In.

As great as Selanne has been over his career I feel that his presence on the Ducks roster has actually hurt the development of their younger players in recent years. The fact that Bruce Boudreau has planned for some down time under the guise of resting Selanne is a blessing because it will give his other players some needed ice time to develop. Having other players like Saku Koivu being sidelined with injury has forced the team to see what they have got. So far it looks good.

Here are the stats for Selanne, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf since the lockout.

As Anthony pointed out, in the 2011-12 season, Selanne was ranked first with 66 points while Getzlaf's laughable 57 points ranked him fourth in team scoring. A nine point difference between the two. Overall Selanne has been ranked fifth or worse in team scoring since Getzlaf and Perry have taken charge of the team. In the seasons where Teemu ranks better on the team, Corey and Ryan are close by.

The suggestion that once Selanne retires Anaheim will be struggling to replace his production so they must go for it all this season is inaccurate.

They brought in Jakob Silfverberg (also netted Stefan Noesen and a first round pick in 2014), Dustin Penner and Matthieu Perreault to bolster their roster depth. At defense, Sheldon Souray is still on injured reserve. It is anticipated that he will be back playing sometime in December.

With 33 points the team is second in the Pacific division and in the top eight teams within the Western conference.

For fun I took a look at the dictionary to see if there was anything that could be played off of his name and found two definitions of the word "teem". (Using Webster's NewWorld Dictionary, second college edition)

Teem as an intransitive verb, "to be full, as though ready to bring forth young; abound; swarm" and as a transitive verb, "to empty; pour out". I think this explains the situation on the Duck's nicely. They have young talent and it is ready to be brought forth. At the same time, Selanne is pouring out the very last bits of himself.

He has been a top level performer for four NHL teams. Selanne wants one more taste of victory from the Stanley Cup and he understands that he has to accept limited minutes during the regular season. It is done to keep him fresh and to strengthen the team as a whole too. Anaheim should be patient with their goaltending prospects and let them develop. If another team should run into goaltending difficulties this season and the Ducks are approached for help then they deal from a position of strength.

If things do not work out for them this season they still have a nucleus to contend again next year. If they do win it all, it will be a feather in their cap.

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