Speculation: 2023-24 Roster Thread

[KelVarnsen]

Lol there is NOBODY left in the universe who thinks eakins was a “ good coach”

Not so sure about that. I’m willing to bet there are some.

 

[Deuce22]

I don’t think the argument is just “get rid of Fowler.” I think it is that with young D ready or coming, his cap space could be better utilized elsewhere on the roster.

 

[Ducks DVM]

Still think the Fowler discussion is a minimum of a year off. Unless we are adding to get an actual top pairing D, that can also carry non-top pairing D.

Deciding the prospects are ready for filling the top 4 after 2 games is the very definition of hot takes.

 

[Rybread86]

I don’t think the argument is just “get rid of Fowler.” I think it is that with young D ready or coming, his cap space could be better utilized elsewhere on the roster.

You want/need vets in your lineup. If our youth were to be able to progress to the point where Fowler is playing a #4 role, that would be awesome. Fowler goes so underappreciated for what/who he is, simply because hes had to be our best D man for a decade. He has a lot to show the young guys, on and off the ice.

 

[Deuce22]

You want/need vets in your lineup. If our youth were to be able to progress to the point where Fowler is playing a #4 role, that would be awesome. Fowler goes so underappreciated for what/who he is, simply because hes had to be our best D man for a decade. He has a lot to show the young guys, on and off the ice.

He wasn't our best D-man when Lindholm was here. He's a soft puck mover who skates well but shouldn't be killing penalties and will be passed by Mintyukov on the power play. He is making a lot of money. If you're willing to pay for mentoring, OK.

 

[Sean Garrity]

He wasn't our best D-man when Lindholm was here. He's a soft puck mover who skates well but shouldn't be killing penalties and will be passed by Mintyukov on the power play. He is making a lot of money. If you're willing to pay for mentoring, OK.

Not trying to get in to this again, but for some of the years when they both were here it was Fowler getting the tough assignments not Lindholm. I'm on board with him not being on special teams, especially the first unit of either. If Fowler is your 3rd best defenseman your team is in a good spot, he's been playing over his head for a majority of his career.

 

[slippingsloth]

He wasn't our best D-man when Lindholm was here. He's a soft puck mover who skates well but shouldn't be killing penalties and will be passed by Mintyukov on the power play. He is making a lot of money. If you're willing to pay for mentoring, OK.

Appreciate lindholm was better d compared w cam but ….

Practically fowler has a 4 team trade list and makes 6.5 mill for 3 years. Doubt you are going to find someone on Fowlers list who will take his full cap hit.

The likelihood all our our young d hit as top 4 quality immediately is unlikely. Although maybe minty, lacombe look have earned a spot in show, zellwegger and luneau have yet to show their mettle. And likely luneau gets 9 this year and zell gets a fill in when an injury occurs shot… these are just my guesses.



Basically i agree w ducks dvm. I dont think there is a world where Fowler is in discussion to leave this season. If we are in The privileged position of all our rookie d hitting big then and only then will next off season will be interesting but i doubt gudas or fowler are going anywhere.

 

[dracom]

Fowler gets so underrated here. For a team with a horrible PP system, Fowler still gets PP points. in 2021-22 season, he was 5th in defenseman for PPG, 21st in PPP. 2022-23 his production dropped and was 33rd for defensemen in PPP, 16th in PPG.

He definitely makes mistakes, will hold on to the puck for too long and doesn't have a heavy shot. But he's still a valuable PP guy and until someone proves they deserve that top PP spot, that role belongs to Fowler. Don't think he should be on the PK either, but I don't know who should be on there over him.

With his strict NTC and cap hit, I dont' see him going anywhere. Once the youth are actually ready to take over and play against top pairing opponents every night which most likely won't be for another year or two, Fowler's contract will be nearing it's end anyways.

 

[slippingsloth]

Fowler gets so underrated here. For a team with a horrible PP system, Fowler still gets PP points. in 2021-22 season, he was 5th in defenseman for PPG, 21st in PPP. 2022-23 his production dropped and was 33rd for defensemen in PPP, 16th in PPG.

He definitely makes mistakes, will hold on to the puck for too long and doesn't have a heavy shot. But he's still a valuable PP guy and until someone proves they deserve that top PP spot, that role belongs to Fowler. Don't think he should be on the PK either, but I don't know who should be on there over him.

With his strict NTC and cap hit, I dont' see him going anywhere. Once the youth are actually ready to take over and play against top pairing opponents every night which most likely won't be for another year or two, Fowler's contract will be nearing it's end anyways.

Thank you for bringing more facts. The kids have to earn Fowler’s spot. Fowler already has.

 

[Gliff]

Fowler is so disrespected. It’s been 2 games lol.

He is not a #1 guy. He is an elite skater but not elite at anything else. That doesn’t make him bad or expendable. On a good team he is a #3 that can play in any situation and eat a lot of minutes. He isn’t overpaid. This isn’t 2010. A #3 on the open market gets way more than him. Look at what Orlov just got.

Minty has played 2 games and you guys are acting like he is playing 25 minutes a night on the top pairing.

Fowler literally carried a trash defense last year. Let’s see what he can do when he isn’t asked to play in situations he isn’t built for, like the PK.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Fowler is so disrespected. It’s been 2 games lol.

He is not a #1 guy. He is an elite skater but not elite at anything else. That doesn’t make him bad or expendable. On a good team he is a #3 that can play in any situation and eat a lot of minutes. He isn’t overpaid. This isn’t 2010. A #3 on the open market gets way more than him. Look at what Orlov just got.

Minty has played 2 games and you guys are acting like he is playing 25 minutes a night on the top pairing.

Fowler literally carried a trash defense last year. Let’s see what he can do when he isn’t asked to play in situations he isn’t built for, like the PK.

It’s not disrespectful to see he’ll be expendable in the not too distant future.

If he’s not built for the pk and lacombe and minty continue to get better and zell starts to get looks… what quality does fowler bring that everyone else can’t. No one is saying trade fowler tomorrow , but it’s not unreasonable or unrealistic to see his time in Anaheim could be coming an end at some point. Just some of you don’t want to have that discussion

 

[Sean Garrity]

It’s not disrespectful to see he’ll be expendable in the not too distant future.

If he’s not built for the pk and lacombe and minty continue to get better and zell starts to get looks… what quality does fowler bring that everyone else can’t. No one is saying trade fowler tomorrow , but it’s not unreasonable or unrealistic to see his time in Anaheim could be coming an end at some point. Just some of you don’t want to have that discussion

Fowler won't be traded unless someone overpays. He may not be re signed but he won't be traded. No one in the pipeline can handle the minutes he can, and let's not forget he can play RD if need be. If Fowler is our 2nd or 3rd pairing RD in two years we're all ecstatic.

 

[dracom]

It’s not disrespectful to see he’ll be expendable in the not too distant future.

If he’s not built for the pk and lacombe and minty continue to get better and zell starts to get looks… what quality does fowler bring that everyone else can’t. No one is saying trade fowler tomorrow , but it’s not unreasonable or unrealistic to see his time in Anaheim could be coming an end at some point. Just some of you don’t want to have that discussion

probably because it's way too early to have that conversation. let's wait till we're at least half way through this season and we have a better idea what the rookie D are shaping up like.

 

[slippingsloth]

probably because it's way too early to have that conversation. let's wait till we're at least half way through this season and we have a better idea what the rookie D are shaping up like.

Everyone is just happy and exuberant. For the regular watchers, which if you post here you by definition are, that game against carolina was the best game we have seen in a couple years. Everyone is just on a high from the thought of a watchable season…. A season where the last two months are not spent hoping for losses.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Fowler won't be traded unless someone overpays. He may not be re signed but he won't be traded. No one in the pipeline can handle the minutes he can, and let's not forget he can play RD if need be. If Fowler is our 2nd or 3rd pairing RD in two years we're all ecstatic.

I’d be a bit worried tbh

probably because it's way too early to have that conversation. let's wait till we're at least half way through this season and we have a better idea what the rookie D are shaping up like.

It’s not too early to talk about, pretty sure we’re allowed to talk about players potential and cutting fat.

 

[Sean Garrity]

I’d be a bit worried tbh

If he's our 3-6th best defenseman in two years you're worried?

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

If he's our 3-6th best defenseman in two years you're worried? That's wild.

Ya def worried if he’s still in the line up cause the 3 obvious guys that would pass him play similar stylistically too him (more physical) at that point he’s just on the team as a sentimental piece, and I’d hope the people running the team are more interested in winning by that point

 

[slippingsloth]

Ya def worried if he’s still in the line up cause the 3 obvious guys that would pass him play similar stylistically too him (more physical) at that point he’s just on the team as a sentimental piece, and I’d hope the people running the team are more interested in winning by that point

I think I can see your thought process zegs. If he is our 6 in 3 years its at 6milliom which is too much and that only makes sense sentimentally. If he is our number 3 most of our kids missed despite early promise

 

[dracom]

It’s not too early to talk about, pretty sure we’re allowed to talk about players potential and cutting fat.

you can talk about it all you want, you're just wasting your time. Fowler isn't being moved for a variety of reasons, not just sentimental ones. you can ignore that all you want, won't really change anything.

 

[Sean Garrity]

Ya def worried if he’s still in the line up cause the 3 obvious guys that would pass him play similar stylistically too him (more physical) at that point he’s just on the team as a sentimental piece, and I’d hope the people running the team are more interested in winning by that point

I mean that's just not true, but also he and others have shown the ability to play the right side. As I stated in my OP, if he's our 3rd pairing RD in 2 years that's a fantastic thing because it means all the kids progressed.

 

[dracom]

I think I can see your thought process zegs. If he is our 6 in 3 years its at 6milliom which is too much and that only makes sense sentimentally. If he is our number 3 most of our kids missed despite early promise

lets not forget the cap will continue to go up over the next couple years, Fowler's cap hit won't be a huge issue for us. Guys like Mintyukov and Leneau ELC and Drysdale's contract will end the same as Fowler. the 26-27 offseason is gonna be busy for us.

 

[DavidBL]

This discussion happened over the summer. It was premature then and is premature now. We can worry about resigning or trading Fowler when and only when these young players have actually proven they're better than him. Not to mention, as others have stated, he can play RD as well as haven't both Lacombe and Zellweger also played RD before.

 

[branmuffin17]

Ya def worried if he’s still in the line up cause the 3 obvious guys that would pass him play similar stylistically too him (more physical) at that point he’s just on the team as a sentimental piece, and I’d hope the people running the team are more interested in winning by that point

I’d be a bit worried tbh




It’s not too early to talk about, pretty sure we’re allowed to talk about players potential and cutting fat.

It's just that it all sounds like so much hyperbole. You would get better responses and maybe more people agreeing with you if you kept your comments in a more reasonable range.

"just on the team as a sentimental piece" taking this at face value you're basically saying he has 0 worth otherwise, you're giving him ice time because even though he brings 0 value you just...like him so much. I don't get the whole sentimental part unless you're insinuating it's the Samuelis that you're talking about and they have some kind of deeper love for him, since he has tenure being on their team...that tenured relationship isn't there with Verbeek or Cronin. That comment is just so overblown.

"cutting fat" meaning the more common phrase "trimming the fat"...because yeah he plays like an uncaring Comtois, or...unfortunately have to say it, Silf who IS trying and will always try, but by looks will likely be no better than ~ replacement level at any point during the rest of his career.

Dude, the guy still brings value. I DO get what I think your actual feeling here is...that he's not really doing anything others in our system probably won't be doing in a year or two (or maybe even now if you're fully convinced multiple guys are already panning out the way we all hope)...and do it better and/or for less money (at least temporarily). His contract really isn't that bad, we're not strapped for cash right now, his current contract comes off the books right about the same time we need to worry about new contracts for a bunch of important guys. So I could see trading him eventually, or not resigning him or whatever, but he's currently a piece that brings some positive value to the team in a variety of ways.

Sorry, honestly not trying to be rude, but it seems like half of your comments are like a broken record, and it would be nice to read some of your other thoughts than just slamming Fowler. I'm all for hearing peoples' thoughts, and I find a lot of them interesting, but I also like it when it brings honest discussion that's not just surface blah.

 

[OCSportsfan]

Fowler will be here for his career, he is a career Duck. If we are lucky, his last year he will be on our 3rd pairing, maybe with one of the physical young guys, or someone like Gudas. He will still be able to play quality hockey by then and maybe the three young guys are ready to take over.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Fowler will be here for his career, he is a career Duck. If we are lucky, his last year he will be on our 3rd pairing, maybe with one of the physical young guys, or someone like Gudas. He will still be able to play quality hockey by then and maybe the three young guys are ready to take over.

agreed, i don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon. For me, i just hope to see him utilized in different ways, like not having an outsized offensive role - both because he can't sustain solid defense over the course of a year if he's that offensive option and because there could be some young guys who are better at it now. I think Minty being the QB of the PP1 today at practice could've been because Drysdale was out (not permanent) but hopefully he just plays himself into that spot.