Speculation: 2023-24 Roster Thread

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I am still skeptical about many of our guys.

It’s a valid concern to me about Zellwegers size and his ability to play defense. Same concerns I had with Vatanen.

Zellweger is miles ahead of vatanen as a prospect. Skill for skill he might be the most talented dmen we’ve ever had in our system… obviously concerns about it’s his size but I think people are sleeping on him strictly due to size

As far as being skeptical on our prospects…. I’m skeptical on guys like hinds helleson and Warren.

Mintyukov drysdale and luneau I’ve always been high on…. And all 3 are trending really well and I think all 3 will be top 4 dmen.

Lacombe is a guy I have been skeptical on, but he’s been impressive so far in the nhl level.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Zellweger is miles ahead of vatanen as a prospect. Skill for skill he might be the most talented dmen we’ve ever had in our system… obviously concerns about it’s his size but I think people are sleeping on him strictly due to size

As far as being skeptical on our prospects…. I’m skeptical on guys like hinds helleson and Warren.

Mintyukov drysdale and luneau I’ve always been high on…. And all 3 are trending really well and I think all 3 will be top 4 dmen.

Lacombe is a guy I have been skeptical on, but he’s been impressive so far in the nhl level.

I get why you're skeptical on Helleson b/c he hasn't shown much in the AHL. He's not offensive or defensive. I thought he was supposed to be a shutdown guy b/c that's what I vaguely recall from the WJC-20, when he was paired with Thrun. Guess, Thrun carried Helleson back then.

I'm curious why you're skeptical on Hinds and Warren.

From your post, it appears you value high-end offense. Is that the reason why you were skeptical on LaCombe?

 

[Rooch]

Beyond excited for tonight's game vs. Dallas. With Carlsson, Minty, Lacombe, etc in the lineup, we'll be getting a glimpse at the future we've all been anticipating given all of our young talent. They're young and inexperienced, and my expectations are low, but that doesn't diminish my excitement.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I get why you're skeptical on Helleson b/c he hasn't shown much in the AHL. He's not offensive or defensive. I thought he was supposed to be a shutdown guy b/c that's what I vaguely recall from the WJC-20, when he was paired with Thrun. Guess, Thrun carried Helleson back then.

I'm curious why you're skeptical on Hinds and Warren.

From your post, it appears you value high-end offense. Is that the reason why you were skeptical on LaCombe?

When I say skeptical I strictly mean I don’t see them as potential top 4 dmen…. But I still see them as possible nhl players


I just wasn’t ever overly impressed watching lacombe at world juniors or even college(I always thought thrun looked like the better of the 2)…. But he very well could be a late bloomer due to the posistion swap. I mean so far he looks miles better than I ever expected.


In terms of hinds and Warren…. I think they are fine but Im skeptical if either will end up a top 4 player. I just don’t think their offensive talents are good enough to be top 4 guys.


I see luneau and Mintyukov(and even drysdale to a lesser extent) as 2 way dmen that can play on power play and push the offense, but also capable in their own end

 

[robbieboy3686]

Zellweger is miles ahead of vatanen as a prospect. Skill for skill he might be the most talented dmen we’ve ever had in our system… obviously concerns about it’s his size but I think people are sleeping on him strictly due to size

As far as being skeptical on our prospects…. I’m skeptical on guys like hinds helleson and Warren.

Mintyukov drysdale and luneau I’ve always been high on…. And all 3 are trending really well and I think all 3 will be top 4 dmen.

Lacombe is a guy I have been skeptical on, but he’s been impressive so far in the nhl level.

Lacombe for me is our next Marcus Peterson. Odd man out, but we ride him all year and his trade value as much as we can

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Lacombe for me is our next Marcus Peterson. Odd man out, but we ride him all year and his trade value as much as we can

Maybe tough to say
Fowler
Mintyukov
Zellweger
Lacombe
Hinds

I’d say Mintyukov is prob the lock to stay…. Could see arguements for the rest

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

Maybe tough to say
Fowler
Mintyukov
Zellweger
Lacombe
Hinds

I’d say Mintyukov is prob the lock to stay…. Could see arguements for the rest

You dont trade Lacombe. You trade fowler or Vaks..

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

You dont trade Lacombe. You trade fowler or Vaks..

Again. Not equivalent.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

You dont trade Lacombe. You trade fowler or Vaks..

I’d agree I didn’t even include Vaaks in my list I consider him gone already. Fowler would be my next to move but I didn’t want to say that in the thread cause it gets people a little weird

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Beyond excited for tonight's game vs. Dallas. With Carlsson, Minty, Lacombe, etc in the lineup, we'll be getting a glimpse at the future we've all been anticipating given all of our young talent. They're young and inexperienced, and my expectations are low, but that doesn't diminish my excitement.

Luneau could be seeing his debut as well.

I expected LaCombe in the NHL this year with Minch and Zell in the AHL while Luneau back in juniors. If Carlsson wasn't getting top-6 minutes as a center in the NHL, then I'd prefer him to be in the AHL. Seeing this many kids up in the NHL is pushing the timeline up sooner with respect to experience and reaching the NHL.

We have better support roster this year than in previous years. Carlsson steps into a very good situation with our top-6. Past two games without Carlsson and Killorn has shown the Ducks have depth early in this season with Vatrano and Strome looking good with Mac. Vatrano and Strome were slated to be 3rd line wingers before injuries happened.

On defense, we have a better composition of talent despite having only one returning, full-time d-man in Fowler. We acquired two stay-at-home shutdown D-men in Gudas and Lyubushkin. We didn't know what we had in Drysdale, but he looks good on his return despite missing all of the pre-season games. Then we pepper in the two rookies in LaCombe and Minch. Although LaCombe is a rookie, he's three years older than Minch as well as played against older competition for the past four years in college - which is why he's so poised as a rookie. Vaaks and rookie Luneau are biding time. I think Luneau will eventually be returned to juniors because being kept on a rotation and losing playing time doesn't make great sense for development.

IMO, how far we go will depend on the defense.

 

[robbieboy3686]

I’d agree I didn’t even include Vaaks in my list I consider him gone already. Fowler would be my next to move but I didn’t want to say that in the thread cause it gets people a little weird

Exactly vaaks might as well be white or Harrington on delay

 

[DuckDuckGetz]

Again. Not equivalent.

A 22 year old on an ELC and a 31 year old making 6.5mil a year with an NTC aren't the same thing?!

 

[CrazyDuck4u]

Luneau could be seeing his debut as well.

I expected LaCombe in the NHL this year with Minch and Zell in the AHL while Luneau back in juniors. If Carlsson wasn't getting top-6 minutes as a center in the NHL, then I'd prefer him to be in the AHL. Seeing this many kids up in the NHL is pushing the timeline up sooner with respect to experience and reaching the NHL.

We have better support roster this year than in previous years. Carlsson steps into a very good situation with our top-6. Past two games without Carlsson and Killorn has shown the Ducks have depth early in this season with Vatrano and Strome looking good with Mac. Vatrano and Strome were slated to be 3rd line wingers before injuries happened.

On defense, we have a better composition of talent despite having only one returning, full-time d-man in Fowler. We acquired two stay-at-home shutdown D-men in Gudas and Lyubushkin. We didn't know what we had in Drysdale, but he looks good on his return despite missing all of the pre-season games. Then we pepper in the two rookies in LaCombe and Minch. Although LaCombe is a rookie, he's three years older than Minch as well as played against older competition for the past four years in college - which is why he's so poised as a rookie. Vaaks and rookie Luneau are biding time. I think Luneau will eventually be returned to juniors because being kept on a rotation and losing playing time doesn't make great sense for development.

IMO, how far we go will depend on the defense.

Very well put!!

 

[Hockey Duckie]

When I say skeptical I strictly mean I don’t see them as potential top 4 dmen…. But I still see them as possible nhl players


I just wasn’t ever overly impressed watching lacombe at world juniors or even college(I always thought thrun looked like the better of the 2)…. But he very well could be a late bloomer due to the posistion swap. I mean so far he looks miles better than I ever expected.


In terms of hinds and Warren…. I think they are fine but Im skeptical if either will end up a top 4 player. I just don’t think their offensive talents are good enough to be top 4 guys.


I see luneau and Mintyukov(and even drysdale to a lesser extent) as 2 way dmen that can play on power play and push the offense, but also capable in their own end

I think you should always state "skeptical of being top-4". That context makes a world of difference when talking about prospects.

LaCombe is a late bloomer? He was a top d-man when drafted, but the knock on him was the level of competition. At the WJC-20, he looked good until his confidence got rocked in the Russian game. Fortunately, the coach kept putting him in as the 7th D and LaCombe showed signs of that offensive prowess in those little bits. After the WJC-20, LaCombe turn up his game and was nearly or at a ppg pace. He turned in a great junior season to where PV tried to sign him. His senior year, his offense took another step forward as he finished 4th in scoring for a defenseman at 0.95 ppg rate.

For the past few seasons, I've shared often how good LaCombe's looked, but often met with denial as well as not worthy enough to be in the discussion of Zell, Drysdale, Minch, and Luneau. To me, LaCombe's playing the same game, but added big hits. I still think he needs to put on a little more mass and close the gap more against puck handlers. To others, they think LaCombe is only showing up now in the NHL - trying to justify their bad take on him all along.

Last year, we had a lot of offensive guys on defense and lack of defensive d-men. It was terrible to witness. This year, we're right back to having defensive d-men (DFD) back on the ice with Gudas, Lyubushkin, and, I'll include, LaCombe. We need DFD to be in our top-4, but it would be great if they can also chip in. Hinds has been improving his offense since his D+0 season and almost finished with a ppg rate last year. He's probably the best bet to being a top-4D as a DFD. Warren has a booming shot, but he's been made out of glass so far. Then there's Ian Moore. He's proving to be a bit better defensively than Thrun last year, but Moore's offense still needs work.

Minch and Loony have that two-way capability and top-4 potential. Luneau playing with LaCombe was an eye-opener for Luneau because he now sees defensive being played at a higher level than him. Luneau started to play a more physical on his end in game 2 or the rookie tourney.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I think you should always state "skeptical of being top-4". That context makes a world of difference when talking about prospects.

LaCombe is a late bloomer? He was a top d-man when drafted, but the knock on him was the level of competition. At the WJC-20, he looked good until his confidence got rocked in the Russian game. Fortunately, the coach kept putting him in as the 7th D and LaCombe showed signs of that offensive prowess in those little bits. After the WJC-20, LaCombe turn up his game and was nearly or at a ppg pace. He turned in a great junior season to where PV tried to sign him. His senior year, his offense took another step forward as he finished 4th in scoring for a defenseman at 0.95 ppg rate.

For the past few seasons, I've shared often how good LaCombe's looked, but often met with denial as well as not worthy enough to be in the discussion of Zell, Drysdale, Minch, and Luneau. To me, LaCombe's playing the same game, but added big hits. I still think he needs to put on a little more mass and close the gap more against puck handlers. To others, they think LaCombe is only showing up now in the NHL - trying to justify their bad take on him all along.

Last year, we had a lot of offensive guys on defense and lack of defensive d-men. It was terrible to witness. This year, we're right back to having defensive d-men (DFD) back on the ice with Gudas, Lyubushkin, and, I'll include, LaCombe. We need DFD to be in our top-4, but it would be great if they can also chip in. Hinds has been improving his offense since his D+0 season and almost finished with a ppg rate last year. He's probably the best bet to being a top-4D as a DFD. Warren has a booming shot, but he's been made out of glass so far. Then there's Ian Moore. He's proving to be a bit better defensively than Thrun last year, but Moore's offense still needs work.

Minch and Loony have that two-way capability and top-4 potential. Luneau playing with LaCombe was an eye-opener for Luneau because he now sees defensive being played at a higher level than him. Luneau started to play a more physical on his end in game 2 or the rookie tourney.

Moore is kinda the forgotten guy in our d prospect pool , I personally really havnt seen much of him outside of world jr

 

[JAHV]

I think the question is how much size/strength/truculence do you need back there? Right now, the Ducks have very little on the left side.

• Fowler is not that guy and has never been.
• Zellweger seems like he's feisty, but he's not moving Leon Draisaitl or PLD out of the way.
• Hinds could be that guy if he can build some strength, but he also has questions about whether his puck-moving ability will meet the minimum NHL standards.
• Mintukov and LaCombe seem similar in that they're not prototypical big, net-front types, but they've shown good defensive instincts and some desire to use their bodies.
• Vaakanainen seems like a very poor man's Fowler.

You don't necessarily need a bunch of beef back there to be successful. The best defensive pairing in the league is Toews-Makar. But the Avalanche also have some bigger guys lower in the defense corps. And Toews-Makar can get away with being small because they always have the puck.

If Mintyukov puts on some muscle, I could see him becoming a good all-around d-man. Vaakanainen seems clearly like the odd man out. Then the question is whether one of Zellweger or LaCombe move over to the right side or do they get traded for help elsewhere? I could see Hinds replacing Fowler eventually, assuming Mintyukov develops enough to take over Fowler's role on the top pairing.

Moore is kinda the forgotten guy in our d prospect pool , I personally really havnt seen much of him outside of world jr

Isn't he eligible to become a UFA this summer if he doesn't sign with the Ducks? Or do they have one more year for that?

Once these guys get to their last year of college, I just assume they're going to leave. It makes it easier for me to deal with when they do. And if they don't, it's a bonus!

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Zellweger is miles ahead of vatanen as a prospect. Skill for skill he might be the most talented dmen we’ve ever had in our system… obviously concerns about it’s his size but I think people are sleeping on him strictly due to size

As far as being skeptical on our prospects…. I’m skeptical on guys like hinds helleson and Warren.

Mintyukov drysdale and luneau I’ve always been high on…. And all 3 are trending really well and I think all 3 will be top 4 dmen.

Lacombe is a guy I have been skeptical on, but he’s been impressive so far in the nhl level.

Plus Vatanen had poor skating for someone his size while Zellweger skates like a rocket on skates. If Vats could skate like Zell he'd still be in the NHL and if he still had his slapshot.

 

[lwvs84]

We're a bit weaker on the right side, luckily a few of those guys can play either side (LaCombe, Zell, and Hinds?). I won't count Moore coming here until he signs, Warren is probably a bigger question mark at this point than the others. In the future, you could always mix and match:
Minty-Dry
LaCombe-Luneau
Zell-Hinds/Warren

Having Zell on the 3rd pairing doesn't mean he'd be a traditional 3rd pairing either, you can play all 3 pairings close to 20 mins a night, hopefully 4 PKers out of those guys, definitely a few guys that can play on the PP. This is under the assumption that most of these guys "hit" though. Minty, Dry, and LaCombe are looking solid at the very least, but it has only been 2 games. Let's see how these guys are doing with a solid sample size, same with the guys in the AHL and juniors.

 

[robbieboy3686]

We're a bit weaker on the right side, luckily a few of those guys can play either side (LaCombe, Zell, and Hinds?). I won't count Moore coming here until he signs, Warren is probably a bigger question mark at this point than the others. In the future, you could always mix and match:
Minty-Dry
LaCombe-Luneau
Zell-Hinds/Warren

Having Zell on the 3rd pairing doesn't mean he'd be a traditional 3rd pairing either, you can play all 3 pairings close to 20 mins a night, hopefully 4 PKers out of those guys, definitely a few guys that can play on the PP. This is under the assumption that most of these guys "hit" though. Minty, Dry, and LaCombe are looking solid at the very least, but it has only been 2 games. Let's see how these guys are doing with a solid sample size, same with the guys in the AHL and juniors.

Agree on the fact that minutes could be more evenly spread out.

 

[MMC]

 

[AngelDuck]

Plus Vatanen had poor skating for someone his size while Zellweger skates like a rocket on skates. If Vats could skate like Zell he'd still be in the NHL and if he still had his slapshot.

Did he though? I remember him being a solid skater(above NHL average) but certainly not as good as Zellweger

 

[Mortal Wombat]

Did he though? I remember him being a solid skater(above NHL average) but certainly not as good as Zellweger

I seem to remember he was not the fastest when skating backwards which is a bit of a problem especially for a defenseman (he would get beat wide), but other than that his skating was just fine (obviously not Zellweger level).

 

[OCSportsfan]

When you think of the odd man out, it is not always the least talented. The odd 1 or 2 of that group may be used in a trade, and the team trading us will not want the worst players.

That being said, and it is only a couple games, but I dont think LaCombe or Minty are going anywhere. I dont think we have equivalents for their size and style with the other young players.

They also remind me how Lindholm, Lundestrom, etc were when they were starting. The game did not seem overwhelming to them, even though it was their first games in the NHL.

 

[Rybread86]

I'm really liking our top 2 lines but... if they can somehow flip a guy like Henrique at the deadline with whatever other assets to acquire a top 6 winger with some size to play with McT, I think you'd have the makings of a pretty dynamic top 6.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I'm really liking our top 2 lines but... if they can somehow flip a guy like Henrique at the deadline with whatever other assets to acquire a top 6 winger with some size to play with McT, I think you'd have the makings of a pretty dynamic top 6.

A top-6 winger with some size. You mean like Killorn?