O’Donnell glad trade rumors didn’t prove to be true

When Scott Niedermayer decided to return instead of retire, every player on the Ducks’ roster understood that moves had to be made to clear salary cap space for the veteran defenseman.

One player often mentioned in trade rumors was defenseman Sean O’Donnell.

“It was tough,” said O’Donnell, in his fourth season with the Ducks. “You like to say that you are a professional and that you can deal with that stuff, but you are human also.”

On Dec. 14, the Ducks finally pulled the trigger and traded center Andy McDonald to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for veteran forward Doug Weight. O’Donnell was safe -- for the time being.

“The reality is that we had no control over the situation, so you can’t twist yourself into knots over it,” said O’Donnell, who was originally selected by Buffalo in the sixth round (123rd overall) of the 1991 draft.

“But it is still kind of stressful at the time. . . . It was the first time I was in that type of situation. I mean you hear rumors all the time and you hear your name in rumors all the time, but they are usually speculation.

“This was different. They had to do something to clear space. You look around the room and you just weren’t sure who it was going to be.”

To Randy Carlyle, it’s all part of the business.

“Trades are always part of a professional athlete’s life,” the Ducks’ coach said. “In team sports where trading is allowed, that’s part of it. Players handle it in different ways. Veteran guys are able to put that kind of stuff aside.

“I think Sean O’Donnell . . . maybe at times paid too much attention to it, but that’s real difficult for us to be critical of that,” Carlyle said.

Said O’Donnell: “I am not going to lie, because it was in the back of my mind at times.”

Yet he has not allowed trade talk to take him out of his game.

Although O’Donnell has only one goal and three assists in 37 games, his role has never been to produce offense.

“I’m 36 now and I’m at the point where I just want to win,” said O’Donnell, who played for the New Jersey Devils when they reached the Stanley Cup finals in 2001. “I feel that personally I’ve accomplished a lot of things and team-wise, winning last year accomplished a major goal.

“So if that means that I have to give up four or five minutes a night to make room for Scotty to come back, no problem. There’s certainly no ego in my game. I’ll do whatever it takes. Whatever the team needs.”

--

The Ducks will look to extend their winning streak at San Jose to six games when the teams play tonight at HP Pavilion. The Ducks have split two games with the Sharks this week, winning, 2-0, at San Jose on Tuesday after losing, 2-1, in a shootout at the Honda Center on Sunday.

“We have a fair share of things we can improve on,” Carlyle said. “We’re going to a hostile environment. We know that. Their fans will be raucous, but that’s the way it is when you go up there to play. These are emotional games that are played at a very, very high pace.”

TONIGHT

at San Jose, 7:30, FSN Prime

Site -- HP Pavilion.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 17-15-5, Sharks 18-11-5.

Record vs. Sharks -- 3-0-1.

Update -- Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan scored goals and Jean-Sebastien Giguere registered his first shutout of the season in the Ducks’ 2-0 victory over the Sharks in San Jose on Tuesday.

--

lonnie.white@latimes.com