Busy offseason leaves Anaheim Ducks at crossroads

It's fair to say the Anaheim Ducks rebuild is over.

Every move they've made for the past several months indicates as much. But you can't say GM Pat Verbeek is slacking off at work this summer.

As mid-July goes, the Ducks had about as busy a week as you can in the NHL goes. They signed two contracts that allow them to avoid arbitration hearings, and came close to putting a cap on one of the busiest offseasons in the league.

Verbeek hired a new coach, made three trades that nearly rise to the level of "blockbuster" but don't quite get all the way there, brought in one notable UFA signing, and got some of his own internal homework squared away in the course of about nine weeks.

The roster isn't quite remade, but it's close, and it sets everyone up for a kind of put-up-or-shut-up couple of seasons