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Over the Boards

Niedermayer happy filling part-time role with Ducks

Wednesday, 03.11.2015 / 5:00 PM

By Dan Rosen - NHL.com Senior Writer / Over the Boards blog

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Over the Boards blog
Niedermayer happy filling part-time role with Ducks

Scott Niedermayer may one day want to take on a heavier role as a coach or executive in the NHL, but for now the Hall of Fame defenseman is content with being a part-time assistant coach for the Anaheim Ducks.

"I'm comfortable with it for sure," Niedermayer said this past weekend following an event to honor the New Jersey Devils 1995 Stanley Cup championship team.

Niedermayer is in his third season on the Ducks coaching staff, but his role is limited to mostly home games and home practices.

"I'm busy at home still," said Niedermayer, who is married with four kids. "I'm realizing what a tough job it is the coaching staff has. It's a difficult job, a lot of moving pieces there. I'm enjoying my position."

As part of his position Niedermayer takes a hands-on approach to working with the Ducks' young defensemen, particularly Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen. He is beginning to get to know Simon Despres, who Anaheim acquired on March 2 from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"I'm not with them every second, but if I see some things we'll have a little talk," Niedermayer said. "It's a lot of small things. It's not sitting down in a classroom spending an hour talking about the game. It's even 20 seconds before practice or in the middle of practice recognizing something I've seen during games. You don't want to overwhelm them with what they're doing. They're good players with what they're doing."

Niedermayer sensed the Ducks players got a boost following the 2015 NHL Trade Deadline.

Anaheim general manager Bob Murray bolstered the roster with more speed and offensive ability by acquiring James Wisniewski from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jiri Sekac from the Montreal Canadiens, Tomas Fleischmann from the Florida Panthers and Despres.

Niedermayer, like everyone in Anaheim's organization, is hopeful Wisniewski can boost the power play, which enters Wednesday night ranked 22nd in the NHL at 16.8 percent. He said the trade for Despres was an interesting hockey trade that most people didn't see coming, but Despres' youth and size could be beneficial now and in the future for Anaheim.

"I think players always get a little boost when they see everybody working the same, trying to improve the team, trying to get better," Niedermayer said. "There's a lot of good teams and we were disappointed last season coming up short. Hopefully we learned some lessons and get a chance again."

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