I won’t pretend to be unbiased on this one. 

I’m definitely a Ryan Carter fan.

I think the guy was extremely underrated and in typical Randy Carlyle fashion, underused an unappreciated.

I’m not going to pretend that he was the guy to make or break a team, and by no means is going to score 30, 20, even 10 goals in a season, but he was more than that.

Starting off the 2009-2010 season, he was by and far at his best.  He was playing hard and skating well.  During a time when the team was struggling, he was often one of the players who stood out by giving more than 100 percent.

When he was introduced to the NHL lineup during the Ducks’ run to the Cup in 2007, he admittedly flew under the radar.  However, when he stepped in the following season for an injured Samuel Pahlsson, he turned up the volume on his NHL career.

If it weren’t for freak accident after freak accident, Carter might have found a more stable role on the Ducks’ roster.  However, injuries set him back, and he was often found on the healthy scratch list.

I don’t think many people would stop and say that Carter was on the top of their list in terms of skill and talent, and it was rare sight to see his jersey in the stands (unless you walked past me), but the reaction from fans is that he will now have the opportunity to make the most of a new situation.

Often the guy who was called upon to fill in the holes in the line up, he was never given the chance to make his job a regular one.

As a Carter fan, I hope to see him get picked up by a team that will use him wisely. 

He’s worth way more than the Ducks ever gave him credit for and I’m sad to see him go.