Ducks going public with offers to free agent Bobby Ryan

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Thu Jul 01 06:52pm EDT

Ducks going public with offers to free agent Bobby Ryan

Winger Bobby Ryan (notes) is a restricted free agent for the Anaheim Ducks, and a damn appealing one: 121 points in his last 145 games, with an Olympic appearance and tremendous upside as a 23-year-old player.

As negotiations with Ryan have continued through the offseason, GM Bob Murray has taken the unusual step of being candid with the financial specifics for the young winger's offers. From Ducks Blog, on June 24:

He acknowledged the lack of progress but revealed that "we made him a pretty good five-year offer between $20-25 million."
"I'm not going to tell you where, but between there," Murray said. "That is not chump change. I would think that Don Meehan, his agent, and [Ducks assistant GM] David McNab will have a discussion. We're all in the same place here."

Today, as Murray updated the media on the Free-Agent Frenzy, he added some specifics to the offer:

"We increased our offer yesterday on Bobby Ryan, went to five years at $5 million a year."

OC Register blogger Eric Stephens reported that Ryan has turned down that offer and another 4-year deal.

This sort of public negotiation is (a) an indication of utter frustration for Murray and (b) an upping of the ante in the PR battle, as the Ducks clearly convey what they're offering to Ryan and Ryan's camp has to explain why his cap hit should come close (or surpass) those of Ryan Getzlaf (notes) and Corey Perry (notes) (both at $5.325 million).

Or, if you're wearing the tin foil hat today, Murray's communicating the price tag to 29 NHL poachers, with the intention of matching the offer sheet. In any case, the Ryan talks aren't exactly sunny right now.