Wilson Still Waiting For a New Contract

The Ducks have clinched a playoff spot, but how much longer until they clinch Coach Ron Wilson’s new contract?

Wilson is signed only through the end of this season, and not getting a deal done before the playoffs could cost the Ducks.

Both sides say there’s no urgency to the negotiations, but the promised extension is nearly a year overdue, and Wilson’s price is probably only getting higher.

He’ll make $350,000 this season, but a good postseason performance on top of last fall’s U.S. victory in the World Cup would raise his stock considerably.

If the Ducks don’t take care of it now, he could essentially be a free agent this summer, and they conceivably could have to outbid other teams to sign their own coach.

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When the Ducks made the playoffs, it activated a clause in goalie Guy Hebert’s contract that raises his salary to $1.3 million this season and calls for a renegotiation of his contract this summer.

Hebert signed for $900,000 before last season, but a bonus raised his salary to slightly more than a million last season after he finished among the NHL’s top five in save percentage. Making the playoffs was another of the five triggers that increased the bonus this season.