Speculation: 2022-23 Management/Coaching/Ownership

[bsu]

Doesn't really seem too far from what the plan seemed to be in Detroit. Blashill had a decent case for needing to go before Stevie took over, yet he was kept for multiple years. They signed veterans around the edges, but mostly they just kept feeding the pipeline until they had a fleshed out young core they could build around, which really came into form last season (Seider, Vrana, Larkin, Raymond, Bertuzzi, Rasmussen, Hronek). Once they arrived, they fired Blas and brought in Lalonde, and spent a boatload of money on a ton of free agents that round out the young core that came through.

I'm thinking Verbeek was hoping that this season would be similar to last year's Wings season, with Zegras, McTavish, Drysdale, Vaak, Terry, Lundestrom, Comtois, and anyone else who earns a shot over the course of this season really proving that they're a core worth building around, and we have a ton of money, even after extensions to go on a similar spending spree this upcoming offseason. You could argue they already established themselves as this to some extent last season, but it just isn't smart for a new GM to fully invest in a core he's been around for less than half a season.

Whether our team achieves that this year or not remains to be seen. Still too early to draw any definitive conclusions.

I'm sure free agents are lining up to join the Ducks after they turn on a single game, 1 single game this season. Looks like everyone is having a blast.... Locker room is awesome. Team plays hard. Team has each others backs. Leadership top notch. Team plays with structure.

 

[MMC]

I'm sure free agents are lining up to join the Ducks after they turn on a single game, 1 single game this season. Looks like everyone is having a blast.... Locker room is awesome. Team plays hard. Team has each others backs. Leadership top notch. Team plays with structure.

People said the same thing last offseason and we got Vatrano, Strome, and Klingberg, so I'm not particularly concerned about that

 

[bsu]

People said the same thing last offseason and we got Vatrano, Strome, and Klingberg. I'm not particularly concerned about that

And all were overpaid and to be honest disappointing. Vatrano can shoot hard but leaves a lot to be desired including turning the puck over frequently. Strome has been disappointing and Klingberg is one of our worst players somehow after looking amazing in preseason.

 

[Mr Rogers]

32 Thoughts: The Podcast

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with Jeff Marek and NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

www.sportsnet.ca

Friedman said he thought coming into this year they had a lot of talent but thought they’d struggle getting the puck back - that’s turned out to be prescient. Marek said he liked our blue line - I kinda was surprised by that comment because none of them are good at separating forwards from the puck.

Friedge also says you shouldn’t judge the team and coach until game 40 at the earliest because of all the changes.

Marek also a fan of Lundy, sees him as a mini-Bergeron and a guy who could eventually excel as a checker/puck hound. We’ve seen him do it before but less so this season, though who knows if his line mates are contributing to that

 

[The Duck Knight]

And all were overpaid and to be honest disappointing. Vatrano can shoot hard but leaves a lot to be desired including turning the puck over frequently. Strome has been disappointing and Klingberg is one of our worst players somehow after looking amazing in preseason.

Strome and Vatrano have been exactly what I expected. I didn't like the Strome deal the moment it was announced. He's not a guy that can drive a line. He needs to center a couple of legit top line wingers to be successful. On this team unless you put him with Terry he's not going to put up even 40 points. The Vatrano deal I'm good with because even though he's basically a one trick pony that one trick was something we're sorely lacking.

Klingberg I don't even know where to start. Part of the problem is we never have the puck so we rarely get to see his best attributes on display. And to me he kind of looks like a guy that is just trying to make sure he doesn't get hurt before his next chance at free agency. I don't think he's giving maximum effort.

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

Dear Hockey Gods..please deliver us Trotz for Xmas. Thank you

 

[Ducks DVM]

Why the hell does everyone want a top coach mid-season? The roster is deficient, and there’s no quick fix. The single best thing this team can do is to finish dead last, while being entertaining, which they’ve shown they can be at home.

Edit - and ANYONE who openly rooted for a tank just shut it - this is what a tank actually looks like from the inside.

 

[McDonald19]

Do you really think they expected a winning team this year?

Maybe a step forward, but it seems worse now.

 

[McDonald19]

Vatrano can shoot hard but leaves a lot to be desired including turning the puck over frequently.

Vatrano plays with an edge in addition to the laser shot, so I can live with the deficiencies in his game.

 

[Gliff]

Maybe a step forward, but it seems worse now.

I expected the defense to be terrible this year. They have not disappointed.

 

[AngelDuck]

Why the hell does everyone want a top coach mid-season? The roster is deficient, and there’s no quick fix. The single best thing this team can do is to finish dead last, while being entertaining, which they’ve shown they can be at home.

Edit - and ANYONE who openly rooted for a tank just shut it - this is what a tank actually looks like from the inside.

Yeah, I hate to say it. But this is true.

It’s time to pack it in and land a franchise players

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

I expected the defense to be terrible this year. They have not disappointed.

It's not just the defensemen.. we don't have a defensive system in place

It's not just the defensemen.. we don't have a defensive system in place

I think if they are going to tank. I truly believe. Verbeek is really going to clean house this trade deadline. Henrique gone. Fowler gone. Klindberg gone. Silverberg waived or bought out

 

[Hockey Duckie]

The time to be quite upset was at last year's TDL. Finding a top-pairing defensive D like Lindholm and a top-4 defensive D in Manson doesn't happen in the off-season unless you're overpaying. Verbeek reset the team at the TDL to year 2/3 of a rebuild.

I didn't like the TDL moves, but accepted that this was the long way round that Verbeek wanted. I shared often that losing our defensive D guys at the TDL affected the team's PK and PP unit. Verbeek didn't address the lack of defensive D nor the lack of physicality in the off-season. Many didn't want to accept we were stepping back into year 2/3 rebuild mode, but here we are.

The main factor why we're struggling on the PP unit is the loss of assistant coach Geoff Ward. We now know Ward was the one that stirred the spoon of success for the PP last year.

We got plugs on the blueline this off-season b/c there's a huge stable of prospect D on their way in the next year or two. The development year isn't just for this year. It'll be next year as well.

We gotta stop focusing on wins as a barometer of success. We gotta set up goals to reach for the team as well as track progress. That way, we'll be less upset.

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

Wouldn’t you kill for revenue sharing though?

Yes..

 

[Gliff]

It's not just the defensemen.. we don't have a defensive system in place


I think if they are going to tank. I truly believe. Verbeek is really going to clean house this trade deadline. Henrique gone. Fowler gone. Klindberg gone. Silverberg waived or bought out

Did you just quote yourself or did you forget to switch accounts

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

There's being a rebuilding team and then there's being an embarrassing franchise.

This team might be the worst team in the AHL if they were in it. I can't see how this is good for the prospects. They look completely shell shocked. There were times last season where Lundestrom looked like he could be a top 6 player, this year hes a non factor. Same can be said for Comtois two years ago.

This team desperately needs a professional head coach. You can crap on the roster (and there is some obvious flaws like it being the softest in the league) all you want but guys that have left Eakins and his terrible systems have thrived elsewhere. Before Klingberg got here, he had actual value. Before Shattenkirk got here, he was the backbone of a stanley cup team. Henien struggled to do anything of note in Anaheim and is now on the pens first line. Mahura was just here recently and looked like he would be lucky to be in the AHL and now hes on the panthers and their fanbase is in love with him. At a certain point theres a common denominator and its Eakins. Truthfully its Verbeeks fault. As I said durning the off season, Keeping Eakins was just a way for him to keep his job a little longer. Everyone knows GM's only have a certain amount of coaches they can go through before they get the boot. He kept Eakins to look nice but in reality it just gives him another years salary without taking any real risk.

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

Sure, Dahlin & Eichel (minus Eichel's injury problems) both turned out just fine being on an awful Sabres team and McDavid and Draisaitl both turned out just fine being on an awful Oilers team, both teams were horrifically mismanaged for years a problem I don't think we have at the moment despite the ardent Verbeek haters on the board and both teams have turned it around under new management (or are beginning to turn it around in the Sabres case)

I think the people that think one bad season is going to completely destroy the development of our young players must not think very highly of our young players because if they are so mentally weak that they can't handle being on a bad team for a little bit how can we ever expect them to have the fortitude to face future adversity in the playoffs and compete for the cup.

And we don't even need to win the lottery anyone in that top 5 is instantly the player with the highest ceiling on our entire team, you could probably make that argument for the entire top 10.

Sabres and Oilers are more than a decade into their rebuilds and neither are paths the Ducks should thrive to get on.

They are two examples of why being purposely terrible has consequences. The Sabres lost Reinhart and Eichel partially because they got sick of losing. Grigorenko, Nylander and Mittelsadt are two high draft picks that never developed to their full potential in that losing culture. Sabres are doing decent this year but are at least another 5 years away from ever being in the stanley cup conversation.

The Oilers had multiple high draft picks either leave or just not pan out. Eberle, Gagner, Yakupov, Hall and Paajarvi were all highly touted prospects that either left or were out of the league. At this point the Oilers despite having possibly the two best players in the league and getting an elite forward for free (E.Kane) are nobody's favorite to win it all.

You could also add the Coyotes to this. Coyotes have been rebuilding since like 2011, they got so sick of rebuilding that they traded for guys like Hall and Kessel and are now closer to being relegated than they are the Stanley cup.

Could the Ducks turn out like the Avs? sure. but its more likely they become Coyotes / Sabres with this plan. Especially if you consider that the chances of getting an elite talent at the draft is harder than ever before (less likelihood of winning the lottery and more teams)

 

[bsu]

There's being a rebuilding team and then there's being an embarrassing franchise.

This team might be the worst team in the AHL if they were in it. I can't see how this is good for the prospects. They look completely shell shocked. There were times last season where Lundestrom looked like he could be a top 6 player, this year hes a non factor. Same can be said for Comtois two years ago.

This team desperately needs a professional head coach. You can crap on the roster (and there is some obvious flaws like it being the softest in the league) all you want but guys that have left Eakins and his terrible systems have thrived elsewhere. Before Klingberg got here, he had actual value. Before Shattenkirk got here, he was the backbone of a stanley cup team. Henien struggled to do anything of note in Anaheim and is now on the pens first line. Mahura was just here recently and looked like he would be lucky to be in the AHL and now hes on the panthers and their fanbase is in love with him. At a certain point theres a common denominator and its Eakins. Truthfully its Verbeeks fault. As I said durning the off season, Keeping Eakins was just a way for him to keep his job a little longer. Everyone knows GM's only have a certain amount of coaches they can go through before they get the boot. He kept Eakins to look nice but in reality it just gives him another years salary without taking any real risk.

Sabres and Oilers are more than a decade into their rebuilds and neither are paths the Ducks should thrive to get on.

They are two examples of why being purposely terrible has consequences. The Sabres lost Reinhart and Eichel partially because they got sick of losing. Grigorenko, Nylander and Mittelsadt are two high draft picks that never developed to their full potential in that losing culture. Sabres are doing decent this year but are at least another 5 years away from ever being in the stanley cup conversation.

The Oilers had multiple high draft picks either leave or just not pan out. Eberle, Gagner, Yakupov, Hall and Paajarvi were all highly touted prospects that either left or were out of the league. At this point the Oilers despite having possibly the two best players in the league and getting an elite forward for free (E.Kane) are nobody's favorite to win it all.

You could also add the Coyotes to this. Coyotes have been rebuilding since like 2011, they got so sick of rebuilding that they traded for guys like Hall and Kessel and are now closer to being relegated than they are the Stanley cup.

Could the Ducks turn out like the Avs? sure. but its more likely they become Coyotes / Sabres with this plan. Especially if you consider that the chances of getting an elite talent at the draft is harder than ever before (less likelihood of winning the lottery and more teams)

My previous posts were the short versions of this. Well done and I concur.

 

[Yemeth]

As other have said, losing is one thing, but being embarrassed/harassed/bullied and pushed around constantly a completely other thing.

I think most of us can agree that if we would see a structure, a good PK/PP coaching where the execution lacks the right personnel but you see glimpses of real plays, would be acceptable/understandable. But:

- playing without any discernible structure, I am only watching hockey since about 2010. but cannot remember seeing so many players colliding with each other at this level, I watched only a few EBEL games, but man those games did look much better than this "thing"
- since we traded away our toughness and grit, it is just cringy seeing e.g. Paul crosschecking Zegras at the last draw and our players just chirping a bit, reminds me of some jokes, I get that we should not try to have a "Legion of Doom" line, but can we at least have a "Legion of tougher than marshmallows" line? When Jones and Comtois/sometimes some other lost soul, are your only hope of some contact hockey -yikes
- leaving our number one goalie in some kind of sadistic shooting practice every game, then we he injures himself the coaches will tattoo a shocked Pikachu on their foreheads
- overplaying Fowler so he plays below his ability as he is overworked and tired
- even other broadcasters mentioning some special moves Zegras was practicing over the sommer, maybe he should first practice the x's and o's instead of highlight reel stuff (and no, I do not buy the excuse of bad linemates), how about looking at some Datsyuk videos and trying to replicate Selke stuff not inventing new moves for video games
- veterans which are playing unmotivated and clearly not trying their best, the new Duck Vatrano plays with an edge, hard and motivated, some play out there like they are unmotivated and would rather have another job, especially when I see an A on the shirt of some of these floaters I get mad
- coaching staff where I as an complete outsider who never played hockey sees that too many things are wrong, what are those seeing with an eye for the small things, maybe even better that I know so little about hockey
- management which provides the coaching staff with, for example, a boatload of offensive D and say "enjoy", at this point I would call up from everywhere I can, I would rather be the kids be surrounded with motivated worse players than many of our current team

For me we seriously lack players and many players play above their rank, but how did one poster write the coaches are not making lemonade of lemons, but they are squirting the lemons in our eyes.

Luckily the NHL ruined nhl.tv so I am frustrated with that also, it distracts from our team a bit. Also, I can "finally" watch all those stupid ads, how lucky I am that I can see those political ads from a different country I am living in, can you also Americans enjoy the same "why am I not forwarding"/"if I do not forward maybe the pain from watching Ducks hockey will grow smaller?" feeling?

For me the only thing important this season was and still is that the young players improve in every facet and most importantly do not get the "let's get the paycheck and go golfing/Vegas ASAP" mentality, surrounded by this crap I get my doubts but the sample size of games is still small enough so I hope some kind of revelation/moves to shake things up.

 

[Leonardo87]

Why the hell does everyone want a top coach mid-season? The roster is deficient, and there’s no quick fix. The single best thing this team can do is to finish dead last, while being entertaining, which they’ve shown they can be at home.

Edit - and ANYONE who openly rooted for a tank just shut it - this is what a tank actually looks like from the inside.

I hate tanking but it is what it is. Yeah the Ducks are not good now and well I don’t think changing coaches in the middle of the season is the answer since they went into this season knowing it was still a rebuild.

I worry more about the kids development.
If the kids can bounce back and play well and grow even while losing games that’s a win to me. But the vets have been so bad that it is making it very difficult. Is this on them , the coaches, or both?

 

[Ducks DVM]

I hate tanking but it is what it is. Yeah the Ducks are not good now and well I don’t think changing coaches in the middle of the season is the answer since they went into this season knowing it was still a rebuild.

I worry more about the kids development.
If the kids can bounce back and play well and grow even while losing games that’s a win to me. But the vets have been so bad that it is making it very difficult. Is this on them , the coaches, or both?

IMO too many new players, too many passenger players, and most importantly a poorly constructed roster both offensively and defensively with no obvious coherent philosophy. Also, I think Zegras is still hurt, with the other option being he’s read too many press clippings and needs to listen to terry and stop posing like Christ redeemer when he scores.

I hate been very vocally anti-tank for years because this is what a tank looks like, and I think it is bad for business. But I also don’t understand people who now, in what is very obviously a tank, start crying about how bad it is and wanting quick fixes.

“The team doesn’t hit” - that’s 100% on Verbeek. There’s not a coach in the league that can make this roster hit and do anything but injure themselves.

“ The defense is bad” - duh. Your top pairing is two 2-3D whose playing styles do not complement one another, and one of whose contracts is explicitly constructed to be flipped at the deadline (37 hits for Fowler, 57 for Klingberg last year). There’s the undersized promising rookie who had mid-pairing offense and AHL defense last year (40 hits last year). There’s the promising rookie who had his third(?) concussion in preseason and hasn’t been since since (17 hits in 14 games last year). There’s the guy a team gave you literally for free for cap relief, who, also appears to be meant to be traded at the deadline for picks 100 hits last year). There’s the 29 year old PTO who’s played all of 105 games in the last 4 seasons, who was panic signed after the rookie concussed himself (19 hits in 24 games). There’s the past his prime offensive defenseman, who needs to be a sheltered #6 on a good team, who’s the #3 (73 hits last year). There’s the easy to root for young kid with the sex toy nickname, who’s really a 6-7D (168 hits last year). The better defensemen in this group are not going to clear the crease, and the ones who will will also be making a ton of mistakes because…they aren’t that good.

“The coach can’t win” - the first half of last season actually took place. Just stop. It wasn’t even remotely all on Gibson. Is he the best coach who ever lived? Obviously not. Does he not teach any systems or know how do do anything useful at coaching? Obviously also incorrect.

“Gibson doesn’t deserve this” - well, Gibson was one of the largest problems on the team after the All Star beak last year, when Verbeek was convinced that the team wasn’t actually where he thought it was and blew it all up, so…maybe he does.

I am still hoping that Verbeek is taking 20 games as a tryout to decide who to trade for pieces that fit his vision, but the alternative is the\at he’s truly tanking. I put him at the top of the blame list though. This result was entirely predictable to me with the defense he constructed, and the willful refusal to inject any team toughness to the roster.

 

[Goose of Reason]

IMO too many new players, too many passenger players, and most importantly a poorly constructed roster both offensively and defensively with no obvious coherent philosophy. Also, I think Zegras is still hurt, with the other option being he’s read too many press clippings and needs to listen to terry and stop posing like Christ redeemer when he scores.

I hate been very vocally anti-tank for years because this is what a tank looks like, and I think it is bad for business. But I also don’t understand people who now, in what is very obviously a tank, start crying about how bad it is and wanting quick fixes.

“The team doesn’t hit” - that’s 100% on Verbeek. There’s not a coach in the league that can make this roster hit and do anything but injure themselves.

“ The defense is bad” - duh. Your top pairing is two 2-3D whose playing styles do not complement one another, and one of whose contracts is explicitly constructed to be flipped at the deadline (37 hits for Fowler, 57 for Klingberg last year). There’s the undersized promising rookie who had mid-pairing offense and AHL defense last year (40 hits last year). There’s the promising rookie who had his third(?) concussion in preseason and hasn’t been since since (17 hits in 14 games last year). There’s the guy a team gave you literally for free for cap relief, who, also appears to be meant to be traded at the deadline for picks 100 hits last year). There’s the 29 year old PTO who’s played all of 105 games in the last 4 seasons, who was panic signed after the rookie concussed himself (19 hits in 24 games). There’s the past his prime offensive defenseman, who needs to be a sheltered #6 on a good team, who’s the #3 (73 hits last year). There’s the easy to root for young kid with the sex toy nickname, who’s really a 6-7D (168 hits last year). The better defensemen in this group are not going to clear the crease, and the ones who will will also be making a ton of mistakes because…they aren’t that good.

“The coach can’t win” - the first half of last season actually took place. Just stop. It wasn’t even remotely all on Gibson. Is he the best coach who ever lived? Obviously not. Does he not teach any systems or know how do do anything useful at coaching? Obviously also incorrect.

“Gibson doesn’t deserve this” - well, Gibson was one of the largest problems on the team after the All Star beak last year, when Verbeek was convinced that the team wasn’t actually where he thought it was and blew it all up, so…maybe he does.

I am still hoping that Verbeek is taking 20 games as a tryout to decide who to trade for pieces that fit his vision, but the alternative is the\at he’s truly tanking. I put him at the top of the blame list though. This result was entirely predictable to me with the defense he constructed, and the willful refusal to inject any team toughness to the roster.

Petition to get this post stickied to the top of every thread

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

Did you just quote yourself or did you forget to switch accounts

Guess I did lmao

 

[duckpuck]

Zegras-Lundestrom-Terry
McTavish-Strome-Vatrano
Comtois-Henrique-Silfverberg
Jones-Grant-Regenda

I wouldn't mind this if you switch Regenda for Silf.

Doesn't really seem too far from what the plan seemed to be in Detroit. Blashill had a decent case for needing to go before Stevie took over, yet he was kept for multiple years. They signed veterans around the edges, but mostly they just kept feeding the pipeline until they had a fleshed out young core they could build around, which really came into form last season (Seider, Vrana, Larkin, Raymond, Bertuzzi, Rasmussen, Hronek). Once they arrived, they fired Blas and brought in Lalonde, and spent a boatload of money on a ton of free agents that round out the young core that came through.

I'm thinking Verbeek was hoping that this season would be similar to last year's Wings season, with Zegras, McTavish, Drysdale, Vaak, Terry, Lundestrom, Comtois, and anyone else who earns a shot over the course of this season really proving that they're a core worth building around, and we have a ton of money, even after extensions to go on a similar spending spree this upcoming offseason. You could argue they already established themselves as this to some extent last season, but it just isn't smart for a new GM to fully invest in a core he's been around for less than half a season.

Whether our team achieves that this year or not remains to be seen. Still too early to draw any definitive conclusions.

I think Verbeek is following the Detroit model and feels the ducks need 1-2 years of high draft picks to finish the rebuild. Hard to disagree with that given the current roster and the ETA for some of the ducks younger prospects (Zell and the other young d-men).

IMO too many new players, too many passenger players, and most importantly a poorly constructed roster both offensively and defensively with no obvious coherent philosophy. Also, I think Zegras is still hurt, with the other option being he’s read too many press clippings and needs to listen to terry and stop posing like Christ redeemer when he scores.

I hate been very vocally anti-tank for years because this is what a tank looks like, and I think it is bad for business. But I also don’t understand people who now, in what is very obviously a tank, start crying about how bad it is and wanting quick fixes.

“The team doesn’t hit” - that’s 100% on Verbeek. There’s not a coach in the league that can make this roster hit and do anything but injure themselves.

“ The defense is bad” - duh. Your top pairing is two 2-3D whose playing styles do not complement one another, and one of whose contracts is explicitly constructed to be flipped at the deadline (37 hits for Fowler, 57 for Klingberg last year). There’s the undersized promising rookie who had mid-pairing offense and AHL defense last year (40 hits last year). There’s the promising rookie who had his third(?) concussion in preseason and hasn’t been since since (17 hits in 14 games last year). There’s the guy a team gave you literally for free for cap relief, who, also appears to be meant to be traded at the deadline for picks 100 hits last year). There’s the 29 year old PTO who’s played all of 105 games in the last 4 seasons, who was panic signed after the rookie concussed himself (19 hits in 24 games). There’s the past his prime offensive defenseman, who needs to be a sheltered #6 on a good team, who’s the #3 (73 hits last year). There’s the easy to root for young kid with the sex toy nickname, who’s really a 6-7D (168 hits last year). The better defensemen in this group are not going to clear the crease, and the ones who will will also be making a ton of mistakes because…they aren’t that good.

“The coach can’t win” - the first half of last season actually took place. Just stop. It wasn’t even remotely all on Gibson. Is he the best coach who ever lived? Obviously not. Does he not teach any systems or know how do do anything useful at coaching? Obviously also incorrect.

“Gibson doesn’t deserve this” - well, Gibson was one of the largest problems on the team after the All Star beak last year, when Verbeek was convinced that the team wasn’t actually where he thought it was and blew it all up, so…maybe he does.

I am still hoping that Verbeek is taking 20 games as a tryout to decide who to trade for pieces that fit his vision, but the alternative is the\at he’s truly tanking. I put him at the top of the blame list though. This result was entirely predictable to me with the defense he constructed, and the willful refusal to inject any team toughness to the roster.

Actually it is both possible that this is a "tank" and the players are underachieving because of poor coaching and poor roster construction. So I disagree, a tank doesn't have to look like this. A tanking team can still play with grit, tenacity, and sound structure. This ducks team doesn't play that way and given the long term trend in that regard, that absolutely is a coaching.

Maybe Eakins is so good at "player development" that his other coaching and system deficiencies don't matter. I don't see that personally, but even if true that that doesn't mean the coaching/system deficiencies don't exist. They do. If you disagree, please explain how the ducks power play and pk could be so awful? That is 99% coaching.

I think the bottom line is that too many players are underachieving. You can put that on the players, but at some point that's a reflection on the coaching and system. We have a long term trend here and Eakins is the common denominator. Eakins systems suck and he doesn't put players in a position to succeed.

I don't mind watching the ducks lose because players like Terry, Z, McTavish, Drysdale and Gibson can entertain. But I do mind watching the ducks underachieve, play soft hockey (Verbeek deserves blame for roster construction as well), and play with poor special teams and a defensive system that is awful.

 

[Ducks DVM]

I wouldn't mind this if you switch Regenda for Silf.



I think Verbeek is following the Detroit model and feels the ducks need 1-2 years of high draft picks to finish the rebuild. Hard to disagree with that given the current roster and the ETA for some of the ducks younger prospects (Zell and the other young d-men).



Actually it is both possible that this is a "tank" and the players are underachieving because of poor coaching and poor roster construction. So I disagree, a tank doesn't have to look like this. A tanking team can still play with grit, tenacity, and sound structure. This ducks team doesn't play that way and given the long term trend in that regard, that absolutely is a coaching.

Maybe Eakins is so good at "player development" that his other coaching and system deficiencies don't matter. I don't see that personally, but even if true that that doesn't mean the coaching/system deficiencies don't exist. They do. If you disagree, please explain how the ducks power play and pk could be so awful? That is 99% coaching.

I think the bottom line is that too many players are underachieving. You can put that on the players, but at some point that's a reflection on the coaching and system. We have a long term trend here and Eakins is the common denominator. Eakins systems suck and he doesn't put players in a position to succeed.

I don't mind watching the ducks lose because players like Terry, Z, McTavish, Drysdale and Gibson can entertain. But I do mind watching the ducks underachieve, play soft hockey (Verbeek deserves blame for roster construction as well), and play with poor special teams and a defensive system that is awful.

The roster construction is on Verbeek, not Eakins. Regenda and Leason are what Eakins had to tinker with. Woohoo.

On a contender, it’s likely none of our defensemen would even play on the PK. Maybe Fowler in the 2nd group, maybe Kulikov. Drysdale, Klingberg, Shattenkirk- never. Beaulieu,, Benoit - will be in the press box or the AHL affiliate.

The assistant coaches run the PP and PK.

Virtually none of these players have significant playing time together, and are coming from a bunch of different systems, and this is a different system, likely put together to try to meld together this roster of misfit toys. Nobody wants to listen to actually hockey people that say that requires 20+ (Elliot said 40+ I believe) games to actually come together.

This isn’t a mostly intact roster that adds a few guys. This is a completely different team. And the play is improving. Shots are coming down. They have been competitive in a couple. We have won once in Vegas since Vegas has existed I think, not gonna take a lot out of that. Toronto SHOULD smoke this roster.

As far as it’s all on the coaches, I think that player effort to learn the new system is equally at fault. The coaches don’t make you skate into each other, and they aren’t coaching a system that makes you do that either.