Getting to know a Duck: Toni Lydman

Back when they won the Stanley Cup in 2007, the Anaheim Ducks boasted an All-World defense corps headed up by Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer. Those days are long gone, but Anaheim GM Bob Murray has steadied the blueline situation somewhat by reacquiring Francois Beauchemin from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and signing 10-year veteran Toni Lydman to a 3-year, $9 million contract as a free agent over the summer.

Toni Lydman

#32 / Defenseman / Anaheim Ducks

Height: 6-1

Weight: 210

Born: Sep 25, 1977

Scouting Report

Lydman leads the Anaheim D in penalty-killing time along with Beauchemin and Andreas Lilja, and the fans in Buffalo still miss his steady presence on their blueline. He's one of those defensemen who does his best work when you really don't notice him much; in 5-on-5 play, he's usually busy providing the safety net so Lubomir Visnovsky (the NHL's top-scoring D-man) can take chances offensively.

In short, he may not get the star attention that the RPG line or Visnovsky get, but he is perhaps as critical as any of those guys to the Ducks' success. The Preds will need to get a body on him early and often, and particularly with a confident puck-handler like Dan Ellis in goal for Anaheim, I expect we'll see Nashville dump the puck into the corners quite a bit in order to get the forecheck going. When they do, following through with a big hit on #32 consistently could lead to dividends down the road.