Ducks Seeking to Cut Kurvers

The Mighty Ducks have offered a termination contract to defenseman Tom Kurvers, signaling an end to his unproductive tenure with the team.

The Ducks traded for Kurvers last summer in an attempt to bolster their dismal power play, but the deal that sent captain Troy Loney to the New York Islanders backfired. Kurvers, 32, proved to be a defensive liability and the power play remained the worst in the league.

General Manager Jack Ferreira called the termination contract “the first step” of buying out the final year of Kurvers’ contract, which was to pay him about $550,000 next season. Kurvers and the two other players who were offered termination contracts--defenseman Myles O’Connor and right wing Jim Thomson, expansion draft players who appeared with the team only briefly--have 30 days to seek a contract with another team. If they don’t sign elsewhere within a month, then they can sign the Ducks’ offer, forcing the team to keep them through next season or buy them out at two-thirds of their salary.

The team is attempting to re-sign forward Garry Valk but allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent by not offering him a contract with at least a 10% raise over his recent $430,000 arbitration award.