Brad May to sit out about two weeks for Ducks

May was injured Wednesday during the second period of the Ducks' 5-4 overtime victory over the Red Wings. He hit Detroit's Kris Draper and landed awkwardly, requiring help to leave the ice. He did not return.

The Ducks have not called anyone up from their Iowa farm team because they've been carrying an extra forward and because they're close to the salary-cap limit. May has not been put on injured reserve, though that could change.

Wednesday's game was the Ducks' home debut of defenseman Bret Hedican, who signed as a free agent last week. He played 14 minutes 47 seconds, mostly paired with Chris Pronger, and was plus 1.

His game isn't flashy, but it doesn't have to be, given that Pronger, Scott Niedermayer and Francois Beauchemin will play the vast majority of the minutes and take care of most of the offensive contributions.

Hedican also brings a veteran presence to the second defense pair. The Ducks have lacked that since salary-cap considerations led them to trade Mathieu Schneider to Atlanta and Sean O'Donnell to the Kings.

"I just ask him to be Bret Hedican. We're not asking him to do anything other than be himself," Coach Randy Carlyle said.

"We know that he's a great skater. He's a puck-moving defenseman that's got lots of experience that's played close to 1,000 games in the league [actually 990]. It's not like we're reinventing the wheel with him."

The Ducks are the fifth NHL team for Hedican, 38, who won the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006. He and his wife, 1992 Olympic figure skating gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, had settled in Northern California after last season and he had hoped to continue his career on the West Coast.

"For me it's just an amazing opportunity," he said of joining the Ducks. "The guys have been great. Playing with Niedermayer, Pronger, Selanne, Beauchemin -- these guys have won consistently over their careers. It's great to be a part of it.

"As far my role, I look at it as a scenario where I can cut their minutes back by a couple. Maybe they don't have to play the 26 to 28 minutes a night. If they can be around that 24, 25 range and I can get a couple of minutes where I can go out and play some solid hockey for them, make good plays and try to take the burden off these guys, that would be a good role for me.

"It's not to go out there and do anything out of my capabilities. It's to play within my game."

So far this season, Niedermayer is averaging 26:14 ice time. Beauchemin is at 25:53 and Pronger at 24:50. Last season, they averaged 23:54, 25:31 and 26 minutes, respectively.

Elliott is a Times staff writer.

helene.elliott@latimes.com