Under Murray towards the end of his tenure we just kind of toiled in mediocrity while he tried to keep retooling the NHL squad. We got swept in the 17-18 playoffs, and Getz/Perry were approaching 33 years old yet we decided to keep the train rolling. Five years later we finally hire Verbeek and basically started the actual scorched earth rebuild that was sorely needed long before that point.
Long story short, this will now be six years of not sniffing the playoffs and we probably have a few more years of ineptitude left before we see any light at the end of the tunnel. As an Angels/Ducks fan times have been very lean
2016-17: WCF
2017-18: Swept in 1st round
2018-19: Decided to rebuild at the TDL
People forget we made the WCF in 2016-17. We traded for Eaves at the TDL. In only 20 regular season games, Eaves potted 11 goals and contributed 3 assists. He also had 2 goals and 2 assists in 7 playoff games before his injury.
2017-18 were missing healthy top-6 players in Kelser (age 33) and Eaves (age 33). Kelser's hip affected him terribly. Eaves had a medical condition. Kesler played 44 games while Eaves maxed out at 2 games. Both would never be healthy for the rest of their contracts. This season was the last time Rakell would score over 30 goals in a season.
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2021-22: Everyone was healthy and a great mix between vets and rookies. Anaheim had a hot start. We were 10-4-3 (23 pts) after 17 games, which included an 8-game winning streak. Problem here was that Murray resigned on Nov 10th, in the middle of the 8-game winning streak. Between Nov 10th and Feb 3rd (all-star break), there weren't much movement at the NHL level because there was no true GM. And when Verbeek did become GM, he didn't do much to replace Manson's talent when Manson went on IR during all-star break. Anaheim was 3rd in the Pacific at all-star break, when Verbeek became GM.
Verbeek reset the rebuild and didn't do any favors for the 2022-23 roster as it finished worst overall.
Because Verbeek reset the rebuild, it extended the time to becoming relevant again. If that's the path, then I'm in for the long haul because we need depth.
With the Ducks, there is a path for success, but we're waiting for the youths to mature. With the Angels, they have no pipeline right now and the owner is too meddlesome, but is unwilling to go over the luxury tax for the whole season. We should have traded Ohtani to revamp our pipeline and NHL roster, but we're gonna lose him for a 2nd round comp pick.
