Speculation: 2022-23 Management/Coaching/Ownership

[Hockey Duckie]

agreed. I liked how she asked about the prospects and was prepared with a list. she definitely has done her homework so far. still concerned about Thrun/Lacombe but not necessarily because of anything Verbeek said in that interview

Just how correct is CapFriendly with their reserve list and "must sign by" date? They have Thrun listed date to be signed is Aug 15, 2024 while LaCombe is Aug 15, 2023. If it is correct, then why doesn't Verbeek reflect this notion b/c Verbeek believes this is Thrun's senior year.

This is Thrun's third season playing for Harvard because Harvard didn't not participate during COVID season. For LaCombe, this is his fourth season playing for Minny.

Here's a Stephens article on both during the summer on Thrun and LaCombe: link. LaCombe said there shouldn't be any concern regarding signing with the Ducks. As for Thrun, he really wanted at least a 3rd year playing in the NCAA before signing because he didn't think he would be ready for the pro level.

“I just looked at previous defensemen that have made a step up to pro hockey,” Thrun said. “Very rarely is it someone that has played less than 60 games. Like a sophomore ideally that turns pro and has a big career, it’s pretty hard to do. At the end of the day, getting another season under my belt is another 30-plus games for development. That’s the way I look at it.”​

Thrun sees himself as a sophomore after last season because he lost a year due to COVID. Is there a way we can confirm that Thrun's signing date is a year later, in 2024?

 

[Kalv]

agreed. I liked how she asked about the prospects and was prepared with a list. she definitely has done her homework so far. still concerned about Thrun/Lacombe but not necessarily because of anything Verbeek said in that interview

Yeah, big fan of a concentrated episode in under 20 mins compared to the ''standard'' podcast blobing of 2h about nothing
Really good job on the Ducks Stream whomever's involved.

 

[Mortal Wombat]

Thanks for the summary. The bit about the .500 makes me laugh though.

Really? He thought this team was going to be near .500 going into the season? He knows he didn't / couldn't bring in reinforcements. It's debatable that we brought in enough offence to outscore the holes left on D already.

To be fair, a .500 team still isn't anywhere near the playoffs. Looking at the past few years, it gives you around 8th-12th pick. So if he's saying he expected to be "near" it, it's just another way of saying he expects a top 10 pick. I know that before the introduction of the loser point/shootouts .500 used to mean "just about making the playoffs", but that was like...20 years ago. Ugh, I feel old.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I don’t put much stock into that quote. I don’t think Verbeek had much expectation for where the team would place in the standings at all, this year was always about development and him evaluating what he has to work with and what he needs to bring in. I really don’t understand why people can’t just accept that and have fun watching the young guys, look forward to what will be another eventful deadline for us in terms of selling, and then see how the front office actually plans to round out this roster. This is how the first year of a GM of a bad team typically goes

Doesn't make sense to ignore the quote unless you just feel like validating your own (evidently wrong) belief, so you're answering your own question about why people can't just accept stuff--because they'd rather believe what they believe.

 

[Deuce22]

Doesn't make sense to ignore the quote unless you just feel like validating your own (evidently wrong) belief, so you're answering your own question about why people can't just accept stuff--because they'd rather believe what they believe.

Or there are some of us who are a bit skeptical when an NHL GM or coach speaks. Perhaps there are times when what is said to the media isn't what they really think.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Or there are some of us who are a bit skeptical when an NHL GM or coach speaks. Perhaps there are times when what is said to the media isn't what they really think.

Sure. And the point of lying here would be what? Anyway selectively disregarding certain statements as lies isn't skepticism, its prejudgment.

 

[Deuce22]

Sure. And the point of lying here would be what? Anyway selectively disregarding certain statements as lies isn't skepticism, its prejudgment.

Not prejudging, taking each quote and comparing it with the actions of the GM or coach. Many times the words and the actions don't align. "Spin" is very common in society today. What they want people to believe and what they are actually doing is sometimes very different.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Not prejudging, taking each quote and comparing it with the actions of the GM or coach. Many times the words and the actions don't align. "Spin" is very common in society today. What they want people to believe and what they are actually doing is sometimes very different.

To the extent this comment doesn't actually prove my point ("society today, harrumph!"), it's utterly without content and doesn't disprove what I said.

 

[MMC]

 

[snowave]

We are putting a lot of trust in a guy that has never been a GM before. Of course I want him to succeed, but I've become quite cautious (and not terribly thrilled with how things have transpired so far). I don't expect change overnight, so I'm still trying to give him some of the benefit of the doubt. Some.

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

What is he going to say? Yah im tanking,. deal with it!!! lol

We are putting a lot of trust in a guy that has never been a GM before. Of course I want him to succeed, but I've become quite cautious (and not terribly thrilled with how things have transpired so far). I don't expect change overnight, so I'm still trying to give him some of the benefit of the doubt. Some.

Yup same way I feel. Its early, but.... Its getting kinda scary

 

[bsu]

We are putting a lot of trust in a guy that has never been a GM before. Of course I want him to succeed, but I've become quite cautious (and not terribly thrilled with how things have transpired so far). I don't expect change overnight, so I'm still trying to give him some of the benefit of the doubt. Some.

Yep

 

[Ducks DVM]

To be fair, a .500 team still isn't anywhere near the playoffs. Looking at the past few years, it gives you around 8th-12th pick. So if he's saying he expected to be "near" it, it's just another way of saying he expects a top 10 pick. I know that before the introduction of the loser point/shootouts .500 used to mean "just about making the playoffs", but that was like...20 years ago. Ugh, I feel old.

I hate to break it to you, but the OTL point was instituted in ‘87-88…

Memory does go with age…

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

Not prejudging, taking each quote and comparing it with the actions of the GM or coach. Many times the words and the actions don't align. "Spin" is very common in society today. What they want people to believe and what they are actually doing is sometimes very different.

While this isn’t wrong I think the application here is kind of wild. For one, with the previous GM this was consistently treated in the exact opposite manner; most people here typically ignored his actions and focused on what he said and often going beyond that.

More importantly, though, what about Verbeek’s actions would make anyone think he’s lying with that quote? Since the deadline he’s made nothing but earnest additions and has done pretty much nothing the pro-tank crowd insisted he would. Are people really surprised he was hoping for some progress given his actual actions?

Lastly, what’s his motivation for lying here? Most times you see spin it’s in a positive or optimistic regard. But here he’s going out of his way to throw indirect shade on the team despite not believing it? That would be very bizarre.

 

[MMC]

 

[MMC]

Notes from that:

* Thinks it takes until about Christmas for players to really find their footing, waiting until then for any stark evaluations

* Fine with Strome and Vatrano's performances so far. Thinks Klingberg is trying to do too much and needs to simplify his game.

* Very happy with Terry (duh), notes he's emerging as a leader. Wants to see more consistency from Zegras. Happy with McTavish's progression

*Says he's very happy with Gibson despite the stats, notes he competes hard and gives the team a chance to win every night and that's all he can ask of him

And a quote at the end that sums up this season pretty well

“In order to be successful down the road, you have to have what I call franchise players,” Verbeek said. “You look at the Colorado Avalanche, it took them a while, probably 10 years to win the Stanley Cup. It also took the Tampa Bay Lightning about that amount of time too, to finally punch through and win a Stanley Cup.


“At some point, you have to get impact players. You have to get difference-makers. And so the way that system is set up – it’s a kind of trade your way or sign free agents to turn the group around.

“If you look at every franchise, all their key people are all signed for eight years. None of the top players are moving anywhere.”

The draft and development process requires patience and the ability to stick to the plan.

“Is it a quick process? No, it’s not.” Verbeek said. “And at times, it’s downright painful. But it’s the process. Along the way, you have just to make sure that you’re putting building blocks in place to build a good culture, to build winning habits. And those are important things as you go along in this process.”

 

[bsu]

If you want to sign your key players for 8 years you could have for cheaper in the offseason bud. Now we are going to spend more for the same thing.

 

[MMC]

“I haven’t even really thought of that,” he said. “To be honest with you, Dallas and the coaching staff’s mandate really has been the development of young players. It was going to be more measured (on that) than wins and losses. When I look at young players in the minors, it usually takes them to Christmas to find their feet. I’m looking at it the same way with a bunch of our young players here and looking for that as well, so they figure it out.

“I guess that’s kind of where I’m looking with the whole group. I’m giving them some runway to find themselves.”

 

[MMC]

Honestly I think there's a non-zero chance Eakins ends up getting extended if guys like Zegras, Comtois, McTavish, and Terry all continue to play well, and even more so if we get more breakout performances from any of our other young players (in the vein of Comtois two seasons ago, Lundy last year). Just keep thinking back to the leash Blashill had in Detroit, and Verbeek has said nothing since he's arrived here to indicate he has any issue with the way Eakins is coaching this team.

 

[Deuce22]

While this isn’t wrong I think the application here is kind of wild. For one, with the previous GM this was consistently treated in the exact opposite manner; most people here typically ignored his actions and focused on what he said and often going beyond that.

More importantly, though, what about Verbeek’s actions would make anyone think he’s lying with that quote? Since the deadline he’s made nothing but earnest additions and has done pretty much nothing the pro-tank crowd insisted he would. Are people really surprised he was hoping for some progress given his actual actions?

Lastly, what’s his motivation for lying here? Most times you see spin it’s in a positive or optimistic regard. But here he’s going out of his way to throw indirect shade on the team despite not believing it? That would be very bizarre.

I didn't say he was lying with that quote. I just question posters who use a quote to prove their position and then can't believe anyone else would be skeptical of said quote. My experience tells me that some things people say aren't actually the way they think.

 

[snowave]

I've nervous with those comments from PV about taking 10 yrs and following in the footsteps of CO and Tampa. Every team is different, and while he has some valid points, I just hope he's not too stubborn and un-flexible to shift on the fly and make adjustments, as needed.

I also find it interesting about the comments of "building blocks and a winning culture". A team dead last at this point isn't doing too well on that front. I know it's early in his tenure, but again I feel like we've not made a step forward as a team at all. I am thankful that the rookies are still generally progressing as about expected, however.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

I didn't say he was lying with that quote. I just question posters who use a quote to prove their position and then can't believe anyone else would be skeptical of said quote. My experience tells me that some things people say aren't actually the way they think.

This is backwards, though. Burrito didn’t use this quote to prove their position, they just pointed out the dogshit reasoning for being skeptical of that quote.

Like I said I think there’s a lot of instances to be skeptical of what a GM says publicly and this isn’t even close to one of them. It reeks of projecting beliefs onto Verbeek, which has been a common theme on this board since he was hired.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I think Verbeek was being highly optimist with his acquisitions and loftier goals, despite being a developmental season.

On paper, the acquisitions Verbeek made with Strome, Vatrano, Klingberg, and Kulikov has some pundits and fans believing Anaheim would be in fringe contention. Some other fans and pundits thought it was more of the same from last season. Here's a sample of this with The Hockey News duo after 8 games into the season for the Ducks, time stamp 28:08 - 33:12. (There's a video of it online, but it's not popping up on their site to share.)



Last year with everyone healthy, the Ducks skyrocketed to the top. Maybe Verbeek thought it can be .500 with a healthy roster to begin the season. While the talent acquisitions this off-season looked great in a vacuum, the roster imbalance was too difficult to overcome.

Ducks 2021-22
Game Set	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	.	GF/GP	GA/GP	GD/GP		Point Share
Total	82	31	37	14	76		2.83	3.30	-0.48​		0.463​
Gm 1 - 33	33	17	9	7	41		3.15	2.76	0.39​		0.621​
Gm 34 - 62	29	10	16	3	23		2.62	3.66	-1.03​		0.397​
Gm 63 - 82	20	4	12	4	12		2.60	3.70	-1.10​		0.300​

After 22 games in the 2022-23 season,

GF/GP = 2.64​

GA/GP = 4.27​

GD/GP = -1.63​

The roster imbalance defensively is stark.

Ducks 2021-22	Special Teams
Game Set	Games	PPG	PPO	PP Eff		PK GA	TSH	PK Eff
1 to 33	33	23	90	25.6%		12	85	85.9%
34 to 62	29	19	85	22.4%		17	89	80.9%
63 to 82	20	6	44	13.6%		14	50	72.0%

After 22 games in the 2022-23 season, the Ducks' PP Eff 14.3% and Ducks PK eff is 65.4%.

Why is the PK so much worse than last year after the TDL when the PK blueliner unit mostly stayed the same? We have new players on the PK in D Kulikov, D Beaulieu, F Rico, C Gawdin, and RW Vatrano. None of those forwards make me think they're very good defensively. Rico is averaging 1:22 TOI short-handed.

The PP is where none of us thought the Ducks would be with the acquisition of D Klingberg manning the point, getting sniper McTavish for the whole season, along with adding Strome and Vatrano to the 2nd PP unit for depth. There shouldn't be any excuse for not producing with a man advantage. Losing asst. coach Geoff Ward was a devastating loss that none of us could have foreseen.

This early season is a reality check to Verbeek's expectations and roster construction. In his Beeker podcast, he envisions a potential top pairing of Minty-Warren b/c he said he can see Warren shutting down the opponents best players. At least Verbeek has the OFD-DFD balance going.

 

[FiveHoleTickler]

Notes from that:

* Thinks it takes until about Christmas for players to really find their footing, waiting until then for any stark evaluations

* Fine with Strome and Vatrano's performances so far. Thinks Klingberg is trying to do too much and needs to simplify his game.

* Very happy with Terry (duh), notes he's emerging as a leader. Wants to see more consistency from Zegras. Happy with McTavish's progression

*Says he's very happy with Gibson despite the stats, notes he competes hard and gives the team a chance to win every night and that's all he can ask of him

And a quote at the end that sums up this season pretty well

“In order to be successful down the road, you have to have what I call franchise players,” Verbeek said. “You look at the Colorado Avalanche, it took them a while, probably 10 years to win the Stanley Cup. It also took the Tampa Bay Lightning about that amount of time too, to finally punch through and win a Stanley Cup.


“At some point, you have to get impact players. You have to get difference-makers. And so the way that system is set up – it’s a kind of trade your way or sign free agents to turn the group around.

“If you look at every franchise, all their key people are all signed for eight years. None of the top players are moving anywhere.”

The draft and development process requires patience and the ability to stick to the plan.

“Is it a quick process? No, it’s not.” Verbeek said. “And at times, it’s downright painful. But it’s the process. Along the way, you have just to make sure that you’re putting building blocks in place to build a good culture, to build winning habits. And those are important things as you go along in this process.”

Thanks for this.

I don't think he's going to please many people on here with a lot of that, but none of it seems out of line with what he's done since he's been here.

If anything, it's just nice to hear from the GM once in a while. The silent Murray era was frustrating to say the least, so this sort of thing is more than welcome. Change is good.

 

[Deuce22]

This is backwards, though. Burrito didn’t use this quote to prove their position, they just pointed out the dogshit reasoning for being skeptical of that quote.

Like I said I think there’s a lot of instances to be skeptical of what a GM says publicly and this isn’t even close to one of them. It reeks of projecting beliefs onto Verbeek, which has been a common theme on this board since he was hired.

I like Verbeek and wasn't trying to project anything. I just am generally cynical unless the actions match the words.