So what's the deal with Bobby?

A good amount of scorching hot topics seems to have suddenly appeared post draft day: the signings of Bryan Allen, Sheldon Souray and Brad Staubitz who all join the Ducks for the first time next season, effectively replacing others who have either been traded or weren't signed to new contracts: eagle-eyed sharpshooting defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky (wondering if he can turn the Islanders' fortunes around - if he chooses to actually play for them), fan favourite brawler George Parros and his 'stache (gonna miss that guy) and Sheldon Brookbank (uh... I have his gloves? I got nothing).

Oh, and Justin Schultz is a douche. That is all.

Normally I don't pay as much attention as I should to free agency despite hockey still being the second or third thing on my mind during the summer, I'd just sit back and watch and simply accept the roster moves that Anaheim makes. Heck, I don't even post much about it on forums. I do read them but I don't really say much. I'm what you might consider to be an introvert. But now that I'm here running a Ducks-centric blog, I may as well talk about the offseason happenings of my favourite team in some capacity. Either way, as ever I'll miss the guys that were traded and I'll look forward to seeing what the new guys can do.

Unfortunately I can't go through all of the above in great detail as I simply don't have the time to do so. Though that's mainly because there's some stuff I'd like to get off my chest regarding a certain Bobby Ryan and some angry comments he has made. But first, let's take a brief look at his history with the Anaheim Ducks:

Bobby Ryan, aka "Silver", aka "The King of Second Bananas", was drafted by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 2005, second overall and right behind Jesus Wayne Gretzky II he-who-shall-not-be-named-because-I'm-fed-up-with-hearing-about-him. Prior to his drafting he played for the OHL's Owen Sound Attack and remained with them for two more seasons. Following Owen Sound's exit from the playoffs in 2007, Ryan was assigned to the AHL's Portland Pirates, who back then were Anaheim's affiliate in that league, for the remainder of their season.

Bobby finally got his chance to shine with the Ducks to start the 2007-08 season... in London. After only four games he was sent back to Portland again. However, Corey Perry was injured near the end of that season so Ryan was called up to replace him. He was briefly with the Ducks for their playoff run but was then sent back down to Portland again to join them for a longer postseason appearance. His actual rookie season finally came around in 2008-09 and he was a member of Anaheim's opening roster; however the Ducks were short on cap space so had to send him down to the AHL once more, this time with the Iowa Chops, their new farm team. And yeah, if I were Ryan I'd be pissed too if I had to wear that team's logo!

His AHL tenure with the Chops didn't last too long - just 14 games - and he was finally called back up full time. He got his career to a start by scoring a hat trick against the LA Kings: his first career hat trick, the first ever Ducks rookie to achieve one, and the fastest in franchise history! So yeah, impressive stuff. He was now in for the long run, and has remained both consistently good and a valuable member of the Anaheim Ducks, scoring at least 30 goals a year. He plays for their top line, got his number changed from 54 to 9 midseason as he specifically requested, is a fan favourite, and is in the middle of a five year deal worth $25.5 million.

And yet, “The Ducks have shown me nothing to prove they want me here.” LOLWUT.

Yeah. It seems he wants out. Preferably to Philadelphia, his favourite team growing up. I've always had a feeling he would want to end up there at some point as he joked about the subject back when he was drafted. But I digress.

What exactly sparked Ryan's angry comments towards the team he is currently signed with? Apparently he's been involved with a number of trade rumours for some time, and it gets him down every time he goes to the rink, as he's supposedly always been the one being traded by said speculation. As far as I know, the rumours only started early last season when the Ducks were crap. Something had to be done to make the team better, head coach at the time Randy Carlyle apparently insisted that either Bobby Ryan had to go, or that threatening to trade him would somehow make the team better. As far as the Ducks were concerned, one of them was on their way out. And it certainly wasn't Bobby Ryan. As after a piss poor start they gave Carlyle the sack and hired Bruce Boudreau to take his place. And then Ryan was immediately off the trading block.

But since then, the rumours and the sensationalism continued. A number of teams were interested in him. But have the Anaheim Ducks traded him yet, or even said that trading him is a possibility? No. Bob Murray is simply answering the phone and listening to the offers that are being made. Because, y'know, that's part of his job. I think, had another team made a seriously good deal in exchange for one of Anaheim's top line star forwards, maybe just maybe, Murray would have traded him already? Except he hasn't.

Look, I'm approaching this with an open mind. I understand why he's upset. He was bounced back and forth pretty frequently early on in his tenure with the Ducks. He had a rough start, fair enough. He's fed up with the trade rumours and at this point is willing for it to happen anyway. Again, fair enough. But other than his bumpy road to becoming a Duck full-time, his team has treated him very well. He gets top line minutes. He's a superstar-calibre player. He's a four-time 30 goal scorer. He's being paid at least $5 million a year to do so. He's great, but to suddenly call out his team for treating him like crap is lunacy at this point.

Naturally, Bob Murray was pissed at the comments Ryan made, but he tried to keep his cool while telling the media "I'm disappointed at this time at his comments and I intend to talk to Bobby personally when we get back." It's been a few days since then, but nothing has surfaced yet.

Let's see how this plays out.