Speculation: 2023-24 Roster Thread

[Anaheim4ever]

The more I look at the standings the more I don’t see any reason we can’t be involved in a race down the stretch to be in the top 2 of all these teams.

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I think the Ducks match up good against Minnesota and can win those games against them to stay ahead. I'd get the Carlsson line out against the Rossi line and take advantage of his tiny size and short reach.

 

[KelVarnsen]

Come on now, that's crazy talk.

Eakins is an elite NHL coach with an elite NHL record and a 10 game stretch during his 404 NHL game career PROVES that with his outstanding record of 137-210-58.

Who wouldn't want a coach who's lost 268 of his 404 NHL games or in simpler terms, a coach who lost 66% of the NHL games he's coached.

EDIT: I decided to look it up, and only 4 coaches in NHL history that coached 400+ games have a worst points percentage then Eakins (0.408).

Milt Schmidt (1954-1966 ; 1974-1976) - 0.406
Tom McVie (1975-1978 ; 1979-1981 ; 1983-1992) - 0.352
Fred Glover (1968 - 1974) - 0.340

Elite company.

So strange he hasn't been picked up to coach again so far this year. I mean he can point to that stretch where his team got hot as all the proof anyone would need to hire him.

 

[Quack Shot]

So strange he hasn't been picked up to coach again so far this year. I mean he can point to that stretch where his team got hot as all the proof anyone would need to hire him.

We’re revising history guys! He was a great coach!

/s

 

[Deuce22]

Apparently, the start of the 2021-22 season concretely dispels your narrative. One would have to accept facts, records, history, and context. It sucks having concrete proof to dispel narratives.

The start of that season is an outlier compared to the rest of Eakins' career. Also, the Ducks position in the standings was inflated due to having played more games than other division teams.

 

[LuGBuG]

I hope Eakins gets another job somewhere as an assistant or head coach in the minors and succeeds. He seemed like a decent fella and cares for his players.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

The Athletic has their goalie duo ranking.

NHL goalie tandem power rankings: Which teams are best set up for success?

Teams are leaning more and more into the goalie-by-committee approach, so we're looking at a team's overall play in goal.

theathletic.com

10. Anaheim Ducks ​

.913 save percentage (7th) | 8.9 GSAx (5th)​

​

The Ducks are off to a surprisingly good start at 7-5-0, fueled by excellent play from both John Gibson and Lukáš Dostál. Anaheim’s defense has allowed the fifth-most scoring chances per game, according to Natural Stat Trick, but Gibson and Dostál have covered a lot of that up with the fifth-most goals saved above expected.​

​

Gibson has looked more like his old self. Time will tell whether that’s simply fresh legs after a long offseason or improved technique by the former All-Star. Behind him, Dostál has impressed with five wins in six starts and a .920 save percentage. He’s looking like he could be one of the better young goalies in the league.​

Two points here:
1. We have allowed the fifth-most scoring chances per game?! We're in the middle of the pack ranking with respect to GA prevented in the league with 32 goals.

2. Our goalies are one of our best players to start the season.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

The Athletic has their goalie duo ranking.

NHL goalie tandem power rankings: Which teams are best set up for success?

Teams are leaning more and more into the goalie-by-committee approach, so we're looking at a team's overall play in goal.

theathletic.com

10. Anaheim Ducks ​

.913 save percentage (7th) | 8.9 GSAx (5th)​

​

The Ducks are off to a surprisingly good start at 7-5-0, fueled by excellent play from both John Gibson and Lukáš Dostál. Anaheim’s defense has allowed the fifth-most scoring chances per game, according to Natural Stat Trick, but Gibson and Dostál have covered a lot of that up with the fifth-most goals saved above expected.​

​

Gibson has looked more like his old self. Time will tell whether that’s simply fresh legs after a long offseason or improved technique by the former All-Star. Behind him, Dostál has impressed with five wins in six starts and a .920 save percentage. He’s looking like he could be one of the better young goalies in the league.​

Two points here:
1. We have allowed the fifth-most scoring chances per game?! We're in the middle of the pack ranking with respect to GA prevented in the league with 32 goals.

2. Our goalies are one of our best players to start the season.

It would be interesting to see those scoring chance numbers broken down situationally (ie 5on5 vs special teams).

 

[Hockey Duckie]

It would be interesting to see those scoring chance numbers broken down situationally (ie 5on5 vs special teams).

I didn't see overall scoring chances on Natural Stat Trick when looking at goalies (of course, I could be blind too). I did see High Danger Shot Against (HD SA) stats and did a duo chart in excel. We rank with the 13th most HD SA when only comparing top goalie duos on 5v5 situations. Some teams have used three goalies, but I didn't include them.

Spoiler: HD SA Goalie Duo chart ranking

HD SA	Natural Stat Trick	Nov 9th
Team	Goalie 1	HD SA	Goalie 2	HD SA	HD SA Total	Rank
SJ	Blackwood	77​	Kahkonen	27​	104​	1​
tor	Woll	60​	Samsonov	36​	96​	2​
chi	Soderblom	48​	Mrazek	47​	95​	3​
vgk	Thompson	50​	Hill	38​	88​	4​
Ott	Korpisalo	67​	forsberg	20​	87​	5​
TB	Johansson	68​	Tomkins	15​	83​	6​
van	Demko	60​	DeSmith	19​	79​	7​
nyi	Sorokin	42​	Varlamov	35​	77​	8​
stl	Binnington	57​	Hofer	19​	76​	9​
Cgy	Markstrom	63​	Vladar	11​	74​	10​
min	Gustavsson	53​	Fleury	21​	74​	11​
sea	Grubauer	43​	Daccord	30​	73​	12​
ana	Gibson	42​	dostal	30​	72​	13​
nj	Vaecek	48​	schmid	23​	71​	14​
det	Husso	50​	Reimer	19​	69​	15​
clb	Merzlikins	46​	martin	23​	69​	16​
edm	Campbell	36​	skinner	30​	66​	17​
nyr	Shesterkin	35​	quick	31​	66​	18​
fla	Bobrovsky	56​	Stolarz	9​	65​	19​
wpg	Hellybuck	54​	Brossoit	11​	65​	20​
was	Kuemper	49​	Lindgren	16​	65​	21​
bos	Swayman	40​	ullmark	25​	65​	22​
lak	Talbot	49​	Copley	9​	58​	23​
nsh	Saros	48​	Lankinen	10​	58​	24​
pit	Jarry	48​	Nedeljkovic	9​	57​	25​
dal	Oettinger	42​	wedgewood	15​	57​	26​
buf	Pekka-L	34​	levi	23​	57​	27​
phi	Hart	36​	Ersson	20​	56​	28​
car	Raanta	33​	Andersen	21​	54​	29​
ari	montembeault	27​	ingram	26​	53​	30​
col	Georgiev	42​	Prosvetov	3​	45​	31​
mtl	allen	28​	Primeau	4​	32​	32​

 

[Reveille1984]

Another thing to remember (that most people already know) when looking at player stats so far is that our strength of schedule has been absolutely brutal. Most sites have us anywhere from #1 to #3 toughest schedule based on opponent quality our first 12 games.

Hopefully as the quality of our opponents evens out a bit, some guys (cough.. Zegras) will start rebounding a little and some younger players can continue to gain confidence. It's hard to build consistency as a young team with a new system when you're playing VGK/PIT/BOS seemingly every night.

 

[McDonald19]

Another thing to remember (that most people already know) when looking at player stats so far is that our strength of schedule has been absolutely brutal. Most sites have us anywhere from #1 to #3 toughest schedule based on opponent quality our first 12 games.

Hopefully as the quality of our opponents evens out a bit, some guys (cough.. Zegras) will start rebounding a little and some younger players can continue to gain confidence. It's hard to build consistency as a young team with a new system when you're playing VGK/PIT/BOS seemingly every night.

Agreed, playing elite or good teams every game has gotten old. Bring on the middle of the pack and bad teams!

 

[mighty Stanley Duck]

The more I look at the standings the more I don’t see any reason we can’t be involved in a race down the stretch to be in the top 2 of all these teams.

Kane is available, lets pick him up and we are deffo among top2 teams.

 

[MMC]

 

[Reveille1984]

Kane is available, lets pick him up and we are deffo among top2 teams.

1 year $15M, then swap him at the deadline for a fist rounder

 

[FiveHoleTickler]

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Doesn't look like there will be any changes to the top line like some of us have been hoping for. Although, I don't imagine Carlsson will play tomorrow. That should at least put Zegras back in the middle, theoretically.

 

[DavidBL]

1 year $15M, then swap him at the deadline for a fist rounder

That's a lot of money to pay for a late first. Also even at 50% not many teams can take a guy at 7.5

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

Doesn't look like there will be any changes to the top line like some of us have been hoping for. Although, I don't imagine Carlsson will play tomorrow. That should at least put Zegras back in the middle, theoretically.

There is for sure a flu bug going around the locker room.. Sucks but it happens

 

[Reveille1984]

That's a lot of money to pay for a late first. Also even at 50% not many teams can take a guy at 7.5

Was more of a joke post, but yeah there's no way he signs here.

 

[Ducks DVM]

There is for sure a flu bug going around the locker room.. Sucks but it happens

May as well get it out of the way. Be good if we could spread it to divisional opponents rather than eastern conference teams though

 

[Hockey Duckie]

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If you want to read Derek Lee's morning skate report for today, aka "Quack of the Dawn":

The Sporting Tribune

thesportingtribune.com

Lee got some quotes from LaCombe.

 

[All Mighty]

 

[Anaheim4ever]

McTavish makes players like Vatrano better, that is what a 1C does, he elevates the guys around him.
Last year Jon Snow McTavish was like having his first year on the Nights Watch which is what playing for the Ducks last year was like and now he's becoming a leader.

Some say he'll be the Ducks version of Ryan O'Reilly, except I think he'll be a better version of him with shades of Pavelski in there too.

 

[Gliff]

100% future captain.

 

[Kalv]

The more I look at the standings the more I don’t see any reason we can’t be involved in a race down the stretch to be in the top 2 of all these teams.

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STOP THE COUNT

 

[JAHV]

You know nothing, Mason McTavish.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

More praise for our netminders and Strome in the Athletic's power rankings.

NHL Power Rankings: How low can the Oilers sink, plus one surprise for each team

It turns out the Oilers can sink really, really low.

theathletic.com

The Athletic is using Net Ratings stat, a combo of offensive rating Game Score Value Added (GSVA) and defensive rating GSVA. The Net Rating is used under the player(s) identified with projected and current values.

16. Anaheim Ducks, 7-5-0​

Last week: 17
Sean’s ranking: 17
Dom’s ranking: 15​

​

John Gibson + Lukas Dostal
Projected: -0.5
Current: +8.3​

​

There may not be a bigger pleasant surprise in the league than the Ducks, and while their skaters deserve credit — hello, Ryan Strome! — that success, as it so often does, starts in net.​

​

Gibson, elite rep aside, came into 2023-24 five seasons removed from having a positive impact on goals saved above expected. At the moment, he’s 10th in the league in that category (5.49). Dostal, meanwhile, has been just as good after winning the backup job in training camp. If we’re talking about the Ducks as more than an early-season mirage, it’ll be because those two keep it together.​