Speculation: 2022-23 Roster Thread

[All Mighty]

What happened to Milano and Steel? I thought they were good players for the Ducks, no?

You thought wrong.

 

[Gliff]

What happened to Milano and Steel? I thought they were good players for the Ducks, no?

Steel's development got ruined by the Ducks turning him into a defensive specialist when he went through struggles offensively. Having said that, he was never a sure thing.

Milano was never good for the Ducks. He got carried by Zegras. They did have good chemistry, but without Zegras he was useless.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

What happened to Milano and Steel? I thought they were good players for the Ducks, no?

Not really no. At the start of this past season, Milano was looking like maybe he'd figured it out. Was working harder and playing a more simple, effective style. It didn't last long before he fell into his old ways though. He has the attitude and mindset of an offensive star but will never be prolific enough to make up for being terrible/indifferent defensively. Not good enough to play top 6 or fit for a checking role, so at best he'll end up signing as cheap offensive depth.

Outside of some very short samples, Steel has never been able to make much of any impact in any facet of the game. His physical talent/toolbox is pretty borderline and he doesn't do anything to assert himself. Some will try to claim the Ducks "ruined" him by forcing him to focus on the defensive side, but I don't subscribe to that line of thinking at all. Steel wouldn't have lasted even this long if he was solely focused on offensive development

 

[Leonardo87]

Steel could not translate his juniors/minors success onto the NHL level. Don't think the Ducks ruined him. As per Milano he is like the Anti-Selke award player.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

What happened to Milano and Steel? I thought they were good players for the Ducks, no?

Pretty sure Milano will find a home…. Steel just playing hard to get, he’s 1 of those guys everyone’s gunna wish they grabbed when they had the chance. Future HOF

 

[Gliff]

Steel could not translate his juniors/minors success onto the NHL level. Don't think the Ducks ruined him. As per Milano he is like the Anti-Selke award player.

I only lean toward them ruining him since his best season was his rookie year. He started with 8 points in his first 7 games and they were not a fluke. I remember being so excited because of how impressive he was.

 

[KyleJRM]

Milano is a dime-a-dozen AHL winger. He's got some skills but he's not consistent enough or good enough defensively to win a regular NHL job. Once he ages out of being cheap and projectable, he's not worth keeping around because there's always other guys with the same profile who are cheap and projectable.

Steel just isn't good at anything. His entire report card is D's. I can't think of a single trait or skill that he has that I can say he's better at than the average NHL forward. He's not big, he's not fast, he's not agile, he's not a great shooter, he's not a great passer, his hands are average, he's weak defensively and not useful on the boards.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Pretty sure Milano will find a home…. Steel just playing hard to get, he’s 1 of those guys everyone’s gunna wish they grabbed when they had the chance. Future HOF

Milano is gonna sign with the Islanders probably. They have room for him now !

 

[Mr Rogers]

Milano needs a lot of time and space to make anything happen, that's why he's so inconsistent. Definitely needs somebody to stir the drink for him, he almost never is able to relieve puck pressure from defenders on his own by deking, deception or what have you.

 

[Leonardo87]

Too many things need to go right for it to even be considered. I think they will be a little more competitive but will end up maybe slightly above the bottom 10. If Verbeek adds another Top 4D, and Gibson plays like he did pre-ASG, then will certainly be interesting…

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Too many things need to go right for it to even be considered. I think they will be a little more competitive but will end up maybe slightly above the bottom 10. If Verbeek adds another Top 4D, and Gibson plays like he did pre-ASG, then will certainly be interesting…

Blue suit guy's comments: "True." "Yes." "D'ohohohohoh!" "That's very exciting. For ducks fans to hear."

 

[Mr Rogers]

Blue suit guy's comments: "True." "Yes." "D'ohohohohoh!" "That's very exciting. For ducks fans to hear."

Great guitar track in there too

 

[Paul4587]

Too many things need to go right for it to even be considered. I think they will be a little more competitive but will end up maybe slightly above the bottom 10. If Verbeek adds another Top 4D, and Gibson plays like he did pre-ASG, then will certainly be interesting…

Yeah I agree. We just aren’t good enough defensively to get there, I think offensively we are very good but we have very weak defensive forwards and our D are smaller and more offensively inclined for the most part.

 

[bsu]

If we are near the playoffs color me surprised.

 

[darkwingduck]

We’ll be decent/maybe good until the injuries start piling.

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

Really depends on how Seattle and Vegas perform this year

 

[Kalv]

Really depends on how Seattle and Vegas perform this year

Vegas is on a highway to hell, just not sure when they hit the speed, lol.

But yeah, a lot of depends on our young core and avoiding injuries (I do think there should had been something with our training or development, seeing how each year we were the most injured – IIRC Verbeek brought new guys there), but I could see us also making a run for the playoffs.

Most likely we will not tho, but I can see there is a chance.

 

[Ducks DVM]

Has Getzlaf officially put in retirement papers yet?

 

[KyleJRM]

I don't like to spend a lot of time predicting exactly how good or bad a team is going to be. Let the games play out, that's the whole point.

I think this roster has a lot of interesting talent that is capable of doing a lot more than they've done so far. But as others have noted, it looks paper thin.

 

[Quack Shot]

With Zegras and Mac being such clutch players it gives me hope we won’t lose future Game 7’s.

 

[Leonardo87]

Yeah I agree. We just aren’t good enough defensively to get there, I think offensively we are very good but we have very weak defensive forwards and our D are smaller and more offensively inclined for the most part.

I think we could see a lot of high scoring games and not those 2-1 dagger loses which stink.

If McTavish is truly following the foot steps of Z, and makes an immediate impact, we will have upgraded all our forwards that had left or retired in the Top 6.

I just wish we added another Top 4D but if Vaak, Benoit and especially Drysdale make huge strides , the D may actually be solid.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I don't like to spend a lot of time predicting exactly how good or bad a team is going to be. Let the games play out, that's the whole point.

I think this roster has a lot of interesting talent that is capable of doing a lot more than they've done so far. But as others have noted, it looks paper thin.

Yes - with a healthy roster, it's easy enough to picture a team that relies on transition defense and a mid-to-high level of scoring, with a killer power play, to win more than it loses. But that requires Comtois and McTavish to produce like top-sixers and even then it doesn't survive a spate of injuries.

 

[Leonardo87]

Yes - with a healthy roster, it's easy enough to picture a team that relies on transition defense and a mid-to-high level of scoring, with a killer power play, to win more than it loses. But that requires Comtois and McTavish to produce like top-sixers and even then it doesn't survive a spate of injuries.

That is the fear. Once the injuries happen, the lack of depth is going to start showing, especially on the D side of things. Forward depth is actually not too bad. Especially if Comtois returns to form and is playing well. Also a healthy Silf and Jones could really help as well.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

With Zegras and Mac being such clutch players it gives me hope we won’t lose future Game 7’s.

Bruce, is that you?

 

[Hockey Duckie]

That is the fear. Once the injuries happen, the lack of depth is going to start showing, especially on the D side of things. Forward depth is actually not too bad. Especially if Comtois returns to form and is playing well. Also a healthy Silf and Jones could really help as well.

Last year, we were playing without Jones and Comtois (2020-21 Comtois). Our top-12 forward spots are filled with them added to the mix and we will likely need a veteran plug to sit on the bench just in case. I feel better about our forward depth situation going into this season because of Perreault, Tracey, Groulx, Lopina, and Regenda. There are top-6 offense in Perreault and Tracey. There are grinding centers who can play win in Groulx and Lopina. And then there's the mystery man in big 6'4 winger Regenda, who's 22 years old. Last year was a good year of development for our prospects, including Groulx who had a down year. Let's see if he can improve going into his third year as a pro.

It's our defensive depth that's a worry. Our starting RD's are quite durable, but our better defensive prospects in the AHL are both RD's in Andersson and Helleson. Our defensive talent at the NHL level for LD is just as scary as we'll probably see a round robin between Vaaks, Benoit, and Mahura for the 2nd and 3rd pairings.

Forward offense: potentially equal or better​

Forward defense: potentially equal or better​

​

Defense offense: big time improvement​

Defense defense: ::: crickets :::​

​

PP: hopefully back to being top-5 with Klingberg added​

PK: ::: crickets :::​

If we can get our PK to being average in the league, then we can steal more games.

Because of McTavish's first full season and a lack of defensive-D at the NHL level has me thinking rebuild year. Verbeek came onboard last year knowing Manson was injured and he could have made a trade to get a D replacement. He didn't. He sat on his hands, grabbed Sustr off of waivers in March, and then traded Manson away. I see it the same way for this season b/c Verbeek isn't in a rush with this rebuild.

Zegras, Terry, and McTavish are the pillars and all three need to prove their play is consistent at the NHL level - McTavish doesn't even have 10 NHL games. No real rush b/c all three offensive forwards are quite young.