Ducks Send 10 to San Diego, Including Defenseman Ferner

The Mighty Ducks trimmed their roster to 30 Friday, assigning 10 players to San Diego, among them defenseman Mark Ferner, who played 50 games with the Ducks last season.

With the acquisition of veteran Tom Kurvers and first-round pick Oleg Tverdovsky, Ferner was caught in a throng of 15 defensemen fighting for what could be seven positions. Nine defensemen remain.

“It’s a really tough decision,” General Manager Jack Ferreira said. “You can always bring him back. . . . There’s still some other guys we’re just taking a longer look at. We’ve got to make a decision on them, and we’ve just got the five (exhibition) games left.”

Ferner, 29, scored his first three NHL goals last season, but had a plus-minus rating of -16 in his first full season in the NHL. He spent the second half of the season in and out of the lineup.

Others players demoted were goalie John Tanner, defensemen Jason Marshall and Scott Chartier, and forwards Dean Ewen, Maxim Bets, Scott McKay, Brian Sullivan, Craig Reichert and Jean Francois Jomphe.

The team also faces some difficult decisions on forwards, with 17 remaining on the roster and perhaps 14 positions available.

Steve Rucchin, a 6-foot-3 center from the University of Western Ontario whom the Ducks picked in the supplemental draft, has been impressive in camp and survived the cut. However, that could be in part because the Ducks cannot assign him to San Diego until he is under contract, and he has not yet agreed to terms.