Speculation: 2024-25 Coaching/Management/Ownership

[Frosted Tips]

Either Niedermayer, Kariya and Selanne screwed up or bought into the Yzerman-Tampa Bay GM's-protege snow job by Verbeek (although Verbeek doesn't strike me as charismatic enough to sell a snow job). I don't remember as crappy a GM-head coach duo since Gauthier/Page or Gauthier/Hartsburg.

Not sure how big their role was in the end. The committee also included the Samuelis, Schulman and Teats. But anyway, not a great look.

 

[potatopieee]

eakins is not a good NHL coach but there's no doubt he had the respect of his players and he had them competing every night. even though most games resulted in losses, they were close games

under cronin, the entire team is just lifeless. i really don't think he has the respect of his players like eakins did

umm i recall the ducks getting blown out a lot under eakins...

 

[Masch78]

Maybe the home stands have to become more vocal during games telling PV what to do.

 

[Leonardo87]

I think someone said it in the GDT, this roster has proven like in last game that there is enough skill on this team to score goals, but the issue is consistency and I put that on the coach and system. Cronin expects these kids to dump and chase and sometimes you get lucky but it also goes to show how bad Edmonton goaltending is.

Also, what are they going to do with the PP? never thought it would be worse than last season. I think this is the main reason our guys are down in production.

 

[Mr Rogers]

The fact we’ve been borderline out playing/outshooting teams of late could be interpreted as a sign of progress for Pat.

 

[Bender66]

Maybe the home stands have to become more vocal during games telling PV what to do.

Will never happen. This is orange county, CA.
not Boston or the Bronx, or Euro soccer leagues.

Just look across the freeway, with one of the worst owners in MLB and fans still keep showing up in droves to watch a dreadful Angels team.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Maybe the home stands have to become more vocal during games telling PV what to do.

Let’s get 405exit’s section on the phone, they seem to have lots of opinions.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

Let’s get 405exit’s section on the phone, they seem to have lots of opinions.

Etem might know a few of them. Maybe he can put us in touch.

 

[Reveille1984]

The Angels have actually dipped pretty substantially in attendance over the last few years.

In their post WS heyday they were averaging anywhere from 40-42k a game for a long time. Since Covid it's dropped to around 30-32k. Whether that's because of Arte/the state of the team or just a bunch of combined factors who knows, but there's definitely a lot more empty seats lately.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

Oh, the good old days. I remember going to all the World Series games back in 2002. The great comeback in game 6 was so amazing! Probably the most exciting sporting event I've ever attended.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Cronin's defense has improved with respect to GA as they are ranked 14th best at 108 GA allowed, but we also need to credit our goalies for keeping the GA total down. We are ranked the 2nd worst High Danger (scoring) Chances Against, HDCA, attempts with 380 HDCA attempts on our goalies

The problem with the team remains the scoring. They currently ranked last in the league with 86 GF total.

Last year

This year

We can see Cronin's team last year was inept offensively with 43% of it's games scoring 2 goals or fewer. The ratio of us scoring 2 or fewer goals is worst this year than last year.

 

[KelVarnsen]

The hockey news posted some stats about the Ducks in their New Years resolution article:

Tied for Last in NHL for goals scored
17th in expected goals for 60
14th in Goals against
Last in expected goals against per 60
31st in PP%
28th in PK%
27th in overall in standings

The defense is seems improved but is still absolutely propped up by Goaltending. The offense is pretty terrible and none of this screams development by Mr. I dont know.

 

[caliamad]

I actually think we look pretty good 5 on 5.

I really like mactavish line with gauthier and fabbri and vatrano and strike with terry is also very solid.

Just Carslson needs to get going and I feel he looked best next to zegras. Killorn zegras and Carlson was solid too.

Then you should have Harkins Gleason and lundstrom / McCann on 4th.

Defense look really good too.

The guy im most worried about is minty. I’d put him with dominion the 3rd pairing.

Lacombe and trouba are shutdown pairing and gudas / zellwegger 2nd.

Helleson should be sent down until dump traded at deadline.

Special teams is a while another story and needs to be addressed. Can’t complain otherwise.

 

[Reveille1984]

Not sure why people are actually worried about Minty.

He was dumped straight into a top four NHL role last season after playing against children in the OHL. He hasn't been very good this year, but it's not really that surprising for a guy in his position with very little pro experience to have a sophomore slump.

Unless you're Hughes/Makar, most 20 year old dmen playing in the NHL are just trying to keep their head above water.

 

[70sSanO]

I don’t mind rotation of the D rather than sending Helleson down.

He has been surprisingly solid, even after sitting a couple games. He just comes in and plays. For such little time he with the Ducks it is pretty amazing.

But I want Mintyukov to get more ice time. If all pans out, I can see Zellweger getting moved at some point.

But a lot depends on Luneau and Trouba. Gudas has one more year and it remains or if he stays or goes to a contender.

John

 

[robbieboy3686]

I don’t mind rotation of the D rather than sending Helleson down.

He has been surprisingly solid, even after sitting a couple games. He just comes in and plays. For such little time he with the Ducks it is pretty amazing.

But I want Mintyukov to get more ice time. If all pans out, I can see Zellweger getting moved at some point.

But a lot depends on Luneau and Trouba. Gudas has one more year and it remains or if he stays or goes to a contender.

John

Agree on zellwegger being moved. Used to think it would be lacombe. I really feel with our GM that zells size is a problem. He talks about playing injured because it’s what’s needed in the playoffs, and that teams with pace and size is needed for deep runs. The times zell is in front of our net, it’s impossible for him to compete with the power forwards. You need to trade quality to receive quality. Zell in a Package for a much needed scoring forward upgrade.

 

[DavidBL]

The hockey news posted some stats about the Ducks in their New Years resolution article:

Tied for Last in NHL for goals scored
17th in expected goals for 60
14th in Goals against
Last in expected goals against per 60
31st in PP%
28th in PK%
27th in overall in standings

The defense is seems improved but is still absolutely propped up by Goaltending. The offense is pretty terrible and none of this screams development by Mr. I dont know.

How do we look in the last 6 or so games?

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I don’t mind rotation of the D rather than sending Helleson down.

He has been surprisingly solid, even after sitting a couple games. He just comes in and plays. For such little time he with the Ducks it is pretty amazing.

But I want Mintyukov to get more ice time. If all pans out, I can see Zellweger getting moved at some point.

But a lot depends on Luneau and Trouba. Gudas has one more year and it remains or if he stays or goes to a contender.

John

Not sure I'm ready to trade Z2 yet but I agree with rotating the D and keeping Hellison here. With the shit show we ice regularly I'd rather give Hellison a longer look here as well as let guys rotate through the press box. This year is all about learning and development. They don't all have to play every night.

 

[2faded]

What's wrong with Helleson? He's solid defensively, big, right shot, and is producing at the same rate as Zell. He's the perfect Dumo replacement.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Sending Helleson down means we're only carrying 6D. If we go on the road, then we'll need a 7th d-man for potential injury situations. Right now, Helleson is our oldest, most pro experienced d-man we have signed in the NA pro's (NHL and AHL). We literally have no older vet to push up to the NHL level to act as the 7th D. That 7th D spot was Vaak's spot.

This is kinda the mismanagement of Verbeek. He could have re-signed RD Gustav Lindstrom to be that fringe NHL'er who can fill up the 7th D spot if needed or provide better talent on the blueline in the AHL. It's great that Helleson did get a sneak peak, but simultaneously not-so-great if he's a healthy scratch for 7 consecutive games.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Sending Helleson down means we're only carrying 6D. If we go on the road, then we'll need a 7th d-man for potential injury situations. Right now, Helleson is our oldest, most pro experienced d-man we have signed in the NA pro's (NHL and AHL). We literally have no older vet to push up to the NHL level to act as the 7th D. That 7th D spot was Vaak's spot.

This is kinda the mismanagement of Verbeek. He could have re-signed RD Gustav Lindstrom to be that fringe NHL'er who can fill up the 7th D spot if needed or provide better talent on the blueline in the AHL. It's great that Helleson did get a sneak peak, but simultaneously not-so-great if he's a healthy scratch for 7 consecutive games.

If we are moving out Dumoulin at some point, definitely need some sort of #7 D for the roster. Could be as simple as grabbing another Lindstrom type from the wire.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Not sure why people are actually worried about Minty.

He was dumped straight into a top four NHL role last season after playing against children in the OHL. He hasn't been very good this year, but it's not really that surprising for a guy in his position with very little pro experience to have a sophomore slump.

Unless you're Hughes/Makar, most 20 year old dmen playing in the NHL are just trying to keep their head above water.

I don’t mind rotation of the D rather than sending Helleson down.

He has been surprisingly solid, even after sitting a couple games. He just comes in and plays. For such little time he with the Ducks it is pretty amazing.

But I want Mintyukov to get more ice time. If all pans out, I can see Zellweger getting moved at some point.

But a lot depends on Luneau and Trouba. Gudas has one more year and it remains or if he stays or goes to a contender.

John

Minty wasn't dumped into the top-4 last year because he started off as a third pairing with Lyubushkin.

Starting D last season
- Fowler-Drysdale
- LaCombe-Gudas
- Minty-Lybushkin

When Minty did play in the top-4, he struggled hard. Then the team put him back down as a 3rd pairing. Afterwards, the team kept pushing Minty up into the top-4 and then he got injured to close out his season. His best outing as a top-4 d-man was when he was paired with LaCombe: 7 games, 1g +2a = 3 pts (0.43 ppg), + 0 rating, 11 hits, and 7 blocks for Minty.

This season, the org isn't sheltering Minty and trying to develop him defensively.

• Minty OZ start %
  • Last year
    • All situations = 52.3%
    • 5v5 situations = 48.3%
  • This year
    • All situations = 38.6%
    • 5v5 situations = 38.2%

Maybe the org is pushing Minty to develop faster than a normal progression. The CHL isn't known for developing defensive d-men as scoring is the main skill trait that is being valued the most. Last year was Minty's introduction into participating in a defensive atmosphere. This season, Minty is in knee deep and he's struggling. I think Cronin saw how LaCombe improved over the season last and believed he can do the same process with Minty. Context matters b/c LaCombe spent four years in the NCAA learning defense first and then his offense came along.

I just hope we don't ruin Minty in rushing his development this year. I like that the team has reduced his minutes recently to help build up that confidence.

 

[70sSanO]

Sending Helleson down means we're only carrying 6D. If we go on the road, then we'll need a 7th d-man for potential injury situations. Right now, Helleson is our oldest, most pro experienced d-man we have signed in the NA pro's (NHL and AHL). We literally have no older vet to push up to the NHL level to act as the 7th D. That 7th D spot was Vaak's spot.

This is kinda the mismanagement of Verbeek. He could have re-signed RD Gustav Lindstrom to be that fringe NHL'er who can fill up the 7th D spot if needed or provide better talent on the blueline in the AHL. It's great that Helleson did get a sneak peak, but simultaneously not-so-great if he's a healthy scratch for 7 consecutive games.

I’m hoping this is not just a sneak peak with Helleson. Of course he might fall off and needs to go back to the AHL. But if he maintains, even more so if he improves, he needs to stay with the big club. Going down might be worse than sitting at this point.

Gudas is showing his age and has struggled this year. Trouba has played very well in his defensive role.

The major advantage the Ducks have is LaCombe playing either side well.

I hope that Luneau gets another look sometime this year, rather than a using a plug for the 7th. Maybe when Dumoulin gets moved.

The irony will be going from a glut of LHD, two experienced, to 3 without much experience.

John

 

[All Mighty]

If we are moving out Dumoulin at some point, definitely need some sort of #7 D for the roster. Could be as simple as grabbing another Lindstrom type from the wire.

Agreed. Could also just be us taking back a player in the trade (like Forbort or Desharnais from Vancouver).

 

[caliamad]

I guess I’m in the minority, I like the product I see 5 on 5, I think we are playing closer to a playoff caliber team for the first time in almost a decade.

If we fix the special teams we will be a dark horse to make the playoffs.

if we are to replace Cronin, I would like to see a truly creative coach to take advantage of the massive talent we have.

I still don’t like verbeeks asset management. Getting trouba was a good move but I feel he lost more deals than won.

I’d love to get Kariya or Niedermeyer to take over for him. That would be epic.