I completely discounted the fact that Anaheim has one of the smartest men in the history of hockey in the GM office. As for the Giguere UFA comment, I fucked up, I fucked up. Any idea what they'll trade him for, as you hinted? They've got a pretty solid team all around, leadership, young talent. My guess would be a scorer with a hint of grit to replace Lupul, which isn't quite McDonald, but could be Perry or Getzlaf. I'm genuinely afraid of Anaheim this year.
Speaking of Perry and Getzlaf, how fucking good was Canada at the 2004 U-21's? Fleury, Richards, Carter, Crosby...That's a sick team.
Edit: I didn't mention Esche in Philly. But I guess he's in the same, or at least a similar boat, to Nittymaki. Even if I'm wrong, Clarke's ensuing insanity bails me out.