Ducks GM: Re-signing Vatanen small part of bigger offseason plan
Re-signing defenseman Sami Vatanen could be the beginning of Bob Murray's offseason roster retooling.
The Anaheim Ducks general manager took to Facebook for a live chat Saturday, naming a few big items on his summer to-do list.
Related: Ducks sign Sami Vatanen to 4-year extension
"We want to get a few more (draft) picks," Murray said. "This team is at a certain point and time right now and the opportunities are here to have some success, but you have to start stockpiling again, building up your assets.
"I've got to convince our boys to make some moves and get some draft picks, so when that time comes to turn over this team, let's not go down ... you can go down and have five years when you're drafting in the top five or six, but I don't want to do it and I don't think this market wants us to do it."
In other words, Murray is well aware his club can reasonably contend for a Stanley Cup while built around the likes Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry for only so long, so he's trying to get ahead of the game in terms of building a consistent winner.
Ahead of the 2016 NHL Draft, the Ducks hold only five picks, according to General Fanager.
More in the present, Murray is also intent on adding a top-six, left-shooting winger to the mix.
"It's something we've been missing," he said. "Even bringing in David Perron to play left wing, he was still a right-hand shot. We could use a really good left-hand shot. That's very high on our priority list."
The Ducks, of course, already made a big change in swapping Bruce Boudreau for Randy Carlyle behind the bench.